Shatterproof: Loud and Proud NCAA Marks Likely Never to Be Matched (#1)

July 11th, 2023 - 7:40

Nothing is more amazing in NCAA men's basketball history than UCLA's 88-game winning streak. The string ended at Notre Dame, 71-70, on January 19, 1974, when guard Dwight Clay's fall-away jump shot from the right baseline with 29 seconds remaining climaxed a 12-0 spurt in the last three minutes for the Irish.

Bruins All-American center Bill Walton, who had injured his back two weeks earlier, hadn't played in 12 days but still went 12-for-13 from the floor. UCLA coach John Wooden, believing his squad was more prepared, didn't like to call timeouts and five consecutive turnovers by his team let UND back into the game.

UCLA compiled a 149-2 record at Pauley Pavilion under Wooden, but its streak of Pacific-8 Conference victories ended at 50 when the Bruins bowed at Oregon State, 61-57. It was OSU's lone victory over UCLA in a 26-game stretch of their series from 1967 through 1979. The Bruins then succumbed at Oregon, 56-51, to give them back-to-back defeats for the first time since 1966. They seemed to be afflicted somewhat by the dreaded disease known as "senioritis" in coaching circles.

"When you have the same group for three years, they're a little more difficult to work with. They don't mean to be, but they are," Wooden said of the Walton Gang. "I can't find fault with my team, but I failed to motivate them. And I'm not talking about won-lost record. In many games we won, I didn't think we displayed intensity and didn't play up to our potential."

The last undefeated squad was Indiana in 1975-76. These days, it's almost inconceivable a men's basketball program could go 2 1/2 consecutive seasons without a loss. What are other untouchable team and individual standards of excellence that will be almost impossible to duplicate, let alone exceed? Records were made to be broken, but perhaps not always in our lifetime. UCLA dominates the most illustrious of the following assessment of the 10 records most likely never to be broken:

1. UCLA's 88-game men's winning streak (under coach John Wooden from January 30, 1971, to January 19, 1974).

UCLA sandwiched 88 consecutive victories between January defeats at Notre Dame (89-82 in 1971 and 71-70 in 1974). The streak began inauspiciously when five of the first eight triumphs were by fewer than five points. Then, the Bruins went ballistic and finished the streak with an average margin of victory of 23.4 points, including an NCAA single-season record of 30.3 in 1971-72.

They won 49 home games by 29.6 points per game, 25 road games by 23.4 ppg and 14 neutral contests by 13.6 ppg. Here is a further breakdown of UCLA's winning margins during the streak: 0-10 points - 17 games; 11-20 points - 25 games; 21-30 points - 20 games; 31-40 points - 17 games; 41-50 points - four games, and more than 50 points - five games.

Twelve different UCLA players led the Bruins in scoring during the following streak, including 45 times by All-American center Bill Walton. He joined Larry Farmer, Sidney Wicks and Keith Wilkes as the only players pacing UCLA in scoring on at least four occasions in any six-game span during the lengthy winning streak. Wilkes, not Walton, was their top point producer in last four triumphs during streak. Women's basketball doesn't boast anywhere close to the parity exhibited in the men's game. Following is a men's mark that never will be toppled in a transient era for players:

UCLA Opponent Pts. Bruins High Scorer
74 UC Santa Barbara 61 Curtis Rowe 18
64 at Southern California 60 Sidney Wicks 24
69 at Oregon 68 Sidney Wicks 20
67 at Oregon State 65 Curtis Rowe 22
94 Oregon State 64 Sidney Wicks 25
74 Oregon 67 Sidney Wicks 28
57 at Washington State 53 Sidney Wicks 16
71 at Washington 69 Henry Bibby 21
103 California 69 Curtis Rowe 23
107 Stanford 72 Steve Patterson 20
73 Southern California 62 Curtis Rowe 15
91 Brigham Young* 73 Henry Bibby 15
57 Long Beach State* 55 Sidney Wicks 18
68 Kansas* 60 Sidney Wicks 21
68 Villanova* 62 Steve Patterson 29
105 The Citadel 49 Henry Bibby 26
106 Iowa 72 Henry Bibby 32
110 Iowa State 81 Bill Walton 24
117 Texas A&M 53 Bill Walton 23
114 Notre Dame 56 Henry Bibby 28
119 Texas Christian 81 Bill Walton 31
115 Texas 65 Bill Walton 28
79 Ohio State 53 Bill Walton 14
78 at Oregon State 72 Henry Bibby 17
93 at Oregon 68 Bill Walton 30
118 Stanford 79 Bill Walton 32
82 California 43 Bill Walton 20
92 Santa Clara 57 Keith Wilkes 16
108 Denver 61 Larry Farmer 19
92 at Loyola of Chicago 64 Henry Bibby/Bill Walton 18
57 at Notre Dame 32 Henry Bibby 15
81 Southern California 56 Bill Walton 22
89 Washington State 58 Bill Walton 25
109 Washington 70 Bill Walton 27
100 at Washington 83 Bill Walton 31
85 at Washington State 55 Larry Hollyfield/Keith Wilkes 16
92 Oregon 70 Bill Walton 37
91 Oregon State 72 Bill Walton 26
85 at California 71 Bill Walton 24
102 at Stanford 73 Greg Lee 16
79 at Southern California 66 Bill Walton 20
90 Weber State* 58 Henry Bibby 16
73 Long Beach State* 57 Henry Bibby 23
96 Louisville* 77 Bill Walton 33
81 Florida State* 76 Bill Walton 24
94 Wisconsin 53 Bill Walton 26
73 Bradley 38 Bill Walton 16
81 Pacific 48 Keith Wilkes 18
98 UC Santa Barbara 67 Bill Walton 30
89 Pittsburgh 73 Keith Wilkes 20
82 Notre Dame 56 Keith Wilkes 18
85 Drake* 72 Bill Walton 29
71 Illinois* 64 Bill Walton 22
64 Oregon 38 Larry Farmer/Keith Wilkes 14
87 Oregon State 61 Keith Wilkes 19
82 at Stanford 67 Larry Farmer/Larry Hollyfield/Bill Walton 18
69 at California 50 Larry Farmer/Keith Wilkes 18
92 San Francisco 64 Bill Walton 22
101 Providence 77 Larry Farmer 21
87 at Loyola of Chicago 73 Bill Walton 32
82 at Notre Dame 63 Keith Wilkes 20
79 at Southern California 56 Bill Walton 20
88 at Washington State 50 Bill Walton 17
76 at Washington 67 Bill Walton 29
93 Washington 62 Bill Walton 26
96 Washington State 64 Bill Walton 29
72 at Oregon 61 Keith Wilkes 18
73 at Oregon State 67 Bill Walton 21
90 California 65 Keith Wilkes/Bill Walton 15
51 Stanford 45 Bill Walton 23
76 Southern California 56 Bill Walton 17
98 Arizona State 81 Bill Walton 28
54 San Francisco 39 Larry Farmer 13
70 Indiana* 59 Tommy Curtis 22
87 Memphis State* 66 Bill Walton 44
101 Arkansas 79 Bill Walton 23
65 Maryland 64 Bill Walton 18
77 Southern Methodist 60 Bill Walton 25
84 North Carolina State* 66 Keith Wilkes 27
110 Ohio University 63 Bill Walton 25
111 St. Bonaventure 59 Dave Meyers 16
86 Wyoming 58 Keith Wilkes/Bill Walton 18
90 Michigan 70 Bill Walton 20
100 at Washington 48 Bill Walton 18
55 at Washington State 45 Keith Wilkes 13
92 California 56 Keith Wilkes 24
66 Stanford 52 Keith Wilkes 21
68 Iowa* 44 Ralph Drollinger/Keith Wilkes 12

*Neutral court games.

2. Frank Selvy's 100-point game (for Furman vs. Newberry on Feb. 13, 1954).
3. UCLA's 38-game winning streak in NCAA Tournament (under coach John Wooden from 1964 to 1974).
4. Pete Maravich's career scoring average of 44.2 points per game with a total of 28 contests scoring at least 50 points (for LSU from 1967-68 through 1969-70).
5. Bill Walton's NCAA Tournament championship game field-goal accuracy of 95.5% (21 of 22 for UCLA vs. Memphis State in 1973).
6. UCLA's streak of 13 consecutive undisputed conference championships in a power league (from 1967 through 1979 in Pacific-8/Pacific-10).
7. Artis Gilmore's career rebounding average of 22.7 per game (for Jacksonville in 1969-70 and 1970-71).
8. Centenary's Robert Parish finished among nation's top five in rebounding all four seasons with more than 15 rpg each year.
9. Kentucky's 129-game homecourt winning streak (under coach Adolph Rupp from Jan. 4, 1943, to Jan. 8, 1955).
10. Bill Chambers' 51 rebounds in a single game (for William & Mary vs. Virginia on Feb. 14, 1953).