Revisiting Louisville basketball's NCAA Tournament title 40 years ago

Forty years ago today, on March 31, 1986, Louisville basketball defeated Duke 72-69 at Reunion Arena in Dallas to capture its second national championship under the late Hall of Fame coach Denny Crum . "It's definitely surreal," said Milt Wagner , who iced the comeback win over the Blue Devils at the free-throw line with only two seconds on the clock, before the Cardinals honored the team with a 40th-aniversary celebration at halftime of a Jan. 31 victory over SMU at the KFC Yum!

Center . "It doesn't feel like 40 years (have passed), then you look back; and it's like, 'Wow, it's been a while. '" Here's how the night unfolded both in Dallas and in the 502: In Dallas: 'I'm really going to enjoy this one' In his dispatch from Reunion Arena that appeared on the front page of The Courier Journal's Sports section April 1, 1986, the late Jim Terhune noted Louisville's quiet walk through the press area with roughly 90 minutes until tipoff.

"Game faces," one workman said upon observing Crum's team, winners of 16 in a row, as it passed by. "Better be game faces," another added. "Now more than ever before in their lives.

" Top-seeded Duke, winners of 21 straight, held a 37-34 advantage at halftime. Nearing the 12-minute mark of the second half, the Blue Devils pushed their lead to 54-48. The Cards didn't back down.