Notable College Basketball Events & Achievements, 1960-75

1960

• Oscar Robertson (“Big O”) of the University of Cincinnati breaks the major career basketball scoring record with 2,600 points in 76 games (February 7); with Jerry West, Robertson co-captained the winning US Olympic basketball team’s in Rome.
• Buckeyes win NCAA championship against heavily-favored Golden Bears of Cal at the Cow Palace in San Francisco (March 20).

1961

• Cincinnati tops Ohio State, in overtime 70-65, to win NCAA title in Kansas City; breaks Buckeyes’ 32-game victory streak (March 26).

1962

• Led by 6’9″ Paul Logue, Bearcats of Cincinnati beat Ohio State again for NCAA championship, 71-59 (March 25).

1963

• The Ramblers of Loyola University of Chicago dethrone Cincinnati for the college championship (Louisville, March 25).

1964

Power Memorial yearbook page, 1964

• Power Memorial (Catholic) High School [closed in 1984] extends winning streak to 71 games and is dubbed “The #1 High School Team of the Century” by National Sports Writers; Ferdinand Lewis (“Lew”) Alcindor recruited by UCLA from Power Memorial H.S. in the Bronx – as a sophomore – the following year – 1965.
• UCLA begins its 10 times championship run to 1975 under coach John Wooden; tops Duke 98-83 (March 22).
• American Olympic basketball team extends streak to 47 games and sixth consecutive gold metal at Tokyo Games with win over Soviets 73-59; attended by Japan’s royal newlyweds Prince Hitachi and Princess Hanako.

1965

• Bruins repeat as NCAA champions, beating Michigan 91-80 in Portland (March 21).
• Bill Bradley establishes himself at Princeton as the greatest basketball player to come out of the Ivy League; scores 58 points against Witchita; Rhodes Scholar; Air Force reservist; joins New York Knicks; becomes Democratic Senator from New Jersey in the late 1970s.

1966

• The Texas Western Miners of El Paso upset Kentucky, 72-65, for NCAA title in College Park (March 20).

The superb Bruin squad of 1967-1968 (Alcindor 33)

1967

• UCLA crushes Dayton for championship, 79-64 (Louisville).
• The NCAA makes the dunk illegal (reinstated in 1976)

1968

• First nationally-televised regular season college basketball game (Houston Cougars & the UCLA Bruins); so-called “Game of the Century” [photos below] at the Astrodome before almost 53,000 fans; undefeated Cougars win 71-69, sparked by Elvin Hayes (January 21, 1968); two months later, UCLA routs Houston 101-69 (March 23) to play for the championship against North Carolina which the Bruins crushed 78-55 in Los Angeles (March 24).

• LSU’s “Pistol” Pete Maravich emerges as scoring point leader averaging 43.8 points per game.
• Team USA tops Yugoslavia 65-50 for gold in the Mexico City Olympics.

1969

• Lew Alcindor leads UCLA to NCAA victory over Purdue University, 92-72; named MVP for third year in a row; Alcindor’s dad plays the trombone in the UCLA band ! Alcindor is number 1 draft pick and starts six seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks.
• The Denver Rockets of the American Basketball Association signed 20-year-old all-American Spencer Haywood for $250,000 after his sophomore year at the University of Detroit (August 24). Brings to light “four-year rule”(Hardship biz).

1970

“Pistol Pete” Maravich
1947-88

• LSU loses 106-104 to arch rival Alabama, despite Pete Maravich (right) scoring an astounding 69 points for LSU! (February 8); drafted by Atlanta Hawks where he played until 1980.
• UCLA wins fourth consecutive crown in College Park, 80-69, against Jacksonville.

1971

• UCLA wins number 5 against Villanova, 68-62 (Houston).

1972

’71-’72 Bruins: better than ’67-’68?

• With 24 points, sophomore Bill Walton helps Bruins to sixth championship, this time against Florida State Seminoles, 81-76, in Los Angeles.
• The USSR ends American basketball Olympic supremacy in Munich by narrowest of margins, 51-50 (September 10).

1973

• UCLA Bruins beat the Fighting Irish 82-63 for record 61^st win in a row (January 28); Bruins defeat Memphis State 87-66for their 7^th NCAA title in a row; Bill Walton scores 44 (March 27); UCLA finishes season, 30-0; considered the best college team ever.
  

  Walton, 1973

1974

The Wolfpack, 1974

• The Fighting Irish beat UCLA in last 29 seconds, ending Bruin streak at 88 (January 20).
• For the first time in eight years, the Bruins defeated in the post-season by the N.C. State Wolfpack which goes on to its first-ever national title, beating Marquette 76-64, in Greensboro (March 26)
• Bill Walton drafted by Portland Trailblazers.

1975

• UCLA Five beats Kentucky 92-85 in San Diego to win 10th NCAA Championship for retiring Coach John Wooden.