Four corners offense

The trailing team would be forced to spread their defense in hopes of getting a steal, which often allowed easy drives to the basket by the offense.

Sometimes, one team would run the four corners offense throughout a game to reduce the number of possessions, in hopes of being able to defeat a superior opponent.

The offense was created by the early 1950s by John McLendon, head coach of the North Carolina Central Eagles, and popularized by longtime North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Dean Smith in the early 1960s.

[9] In the nationally televised 1982 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) championship game between the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Virginia Cavaliers, North Carolina held the ball for roughly the last seven minutes of the second half to nurse a small lead, eventually winning, 47–45.

[1] The next year, the ACC and other conferences introduced a shot clock experimentally, along with a three-point field goal to force defenses to spread out.