After a year of bastard claims to the throne, North Carolina State finally attained legitimacy last night. Led by crown prince David Thompson's 21 points, the Wolfpack banished court jester Al McGuire and his Marquette Warriors, 76-64, to formally capture the NCAA basketball crown.

The despair of N.C. State's 1972-3 exile, when Norm Sloan's roundballers racked up a 27-0 campaign (but could not play in port-season tournaments because of recruiting violations), turned into exultation when a three-day weekend coup d'etat went without a hitch in Greensboro, N.C.

McGuire's floating-triangle defense, designed to collapse on Burleson and shut down Thompson and guard Monte Towe man-on-man, soon joined the Warrior control-offense schemes as just so much chalk on the dressing-room blackboard.

Earlier, Mahavishnu Bill Walton and his troupe of graduating seniors decided against boycotting the consolation game, and played just enough 9less than one half) to thrash Kansas 78-61 for third place.