Two and a half minutes into the press, UCLA had scored 16 unanswered points and led 43-30. The game, in the wake of that burst, was all but over. Duke never recovered, and UCLA gave Wooden his first national title, the wrapping on a 30-0 season.
Wooden, typically, warned his charges after the game: "Don't let this change you. You are champions and must act like champions."
Let history note that this was the night the Wizard was born.
Beginning that year, the start of a magical 12-season run through history, Wooden's deftly assembled Bruins became the most formidable power in college sports. He suited up some of the finest athletes ever to play the game, from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Bill Walton, and they took him where no coach had ever been before or has ever been since. In that dozen years, he won 10 national titles (including seven in a row), ran up a record of 335 victories against just 22 losses and finished a record four seasons undefeated at 30-0. No college coach has ever so dominated a major sport.
