NCAA Basketball History Tournament. There are John Wooden’s unbeaten UCLA teams. “Blue Bloods” was created by Mike Krzyzewski and Adolph Rupp at Duke as well as Kentucky, respectively. During their coaching careers, Bob Knight, Roy Williams, and Jim Calhoun won three championships.
Despite the merged championships, none of them were as excellent as Paul Westhead’s Loyola Marymount teams in one critical area: scoring.
NCAA Basketball History Tournament
Starting in 1987, the Lions were by far the highest-scoring team in the country for three consecutive seasons. Over the course of three seasons, their typical scoring output increased from 110.3 to 112.5 to 122.4. In 1989-90, the team averaged 122.4 points per game, which was 21.1 points higher than the second-place program. It translated into victories as well, with the school going 74-21 over the three years.
For as great as Loyola Marymount was at scoring, they were atrocious on defense. In each of those 3 seasons, the Lions allowed the most points in the country by a wide margin. In 1989-90, Westhead’s team allowed 108.1 points per game, 6.1 more than the second-worst defense.
The 5 highest-scoring Men NCAA Basketball History Tournament
The Lions (107.3) permitted 11.1 more points per match compared to any other Division I team the previous year.
All of this adds up to Loyola Marymount’s iconic March Madness track record. Within three years, the team was playing in the 5 highest-scoring NCAA Men’s history of Basketball Tournament. The following is a breakdown of each of these shootouts:
264 marks: No. 3 Michigan 115, No. 11 Loyola Marymount 149 in the second round in 1990.
In the highest-scoring NCAA Basketball History Tournament, Loyola Marymount blew the doors off Michigan.
The Lions led 65-58 at halftime of their second-round game before going on a tear in the second half. Loyola Marymount defeated Michigan 84-57 in the final 20 mins to advance to the Sweet 16. Jeff Fryer led the way with 41 points on 15-for-20 shooting, accompanied by Bo Kimble’s 37. Terrell Lowery led the team with 23 points on 17 shots off the bench, whilst also Per Stumer (21), as well as Tom Peabody (14), also reached double figures.
234 points: No. 7 Wyoming 115, No. 10 Loyola Marymount 119 in the first round in 1988.
Loyola Marymount won its first NCAA Tournament game in 27 years when it defeated Wyoming in the first round of the 1988 tournament.
Kimble dominated the game with 29 points and 4 three-pointers. Mike Yoest scored 25 points on nine field goals and 15 of 17 free throws. Fryer (17), Hank Gathers (19), and Mark Armstrong (15) also contributed.
Wyoming had six players score in double figures, but even a 63-point 2nd half was insufficient to overcome Loyola Marymount.
232 marks: 1990 No. 11 Loyola Marymount 101, No. 1 UNLV 131
Here are the games in March where the Lions’ defense cost them.
To be fair to Loyola Marymount, no one was a game for the 1989-90 UNLV squad. The Runnin’ Rebels rolled to a national championship, and it came at the expense of Loyola Marymount in the Elite Eight. Stacey Augmon, Larry Johnson, Greg Anthony, and Anderson Hunt combined for 104 points to defeat the Lions as a team.
Kimble and Fryer fought hard, scoring 42 as well as 21 points, respectively. Lowery scored 18 points off the bench, but the remaining of the Loyola Marymount roster mixed for just 20 points as the team fell far short of the Final Four.
221 points: No. 12 Loyola Marymount 101, No. 5 Arkansas 120, in the first round in 1989.
The Lions were eliminated in the first round of the 1989 NCAA Tournament after being outscored by the Arkansas Razorbacks by 120 points.
Arkansas was led by Mario Credit, who had 34 points as well as 13 rebounds. Lenzie Howell also had a strong game, finishing with a 27-point, 12-rebound double-double while making 10 of 11 field goals.
Gathers led the way with 28 points for Loyola Marymount. Kimble and Fryer each scored 24 points, but they combined to shoot 14-for-51 from the field, with Fryer going 5-for-22 from long range.
220 points: 2nd round, 1988, No. 10 Loyola Marymount 97, No. 2 North Carolina 123
Loyola Marymount was thrashed by North Carolina in its next game after defeating Wyoming in the opening round of the 1988 tournament.
On their way to a 26-point victory, the Tar Heels outplayed the Lions 65-40 in the first half. Ranzino Smith shone off the UNC bench, scoring 27 points on 11-for-14 shooting.
Fryer, like Smith, managed to score 27 points off the bench. Gathers led the Lions in scoring with 17 points in the loss.
Other high-scoring games in the NCAA Tournament
In sum, 19 NCAA Tournament games have surpassed the 200-point mark. From 1988-89 to 1990-91, Loyola Marymount was implicated in 62 such shootouts.
Other March Madness games that met that criterion, along with another Loyola Marymount tournament game, are listed below:
- 216 points: No. 2 Wake Forest 105, No. 7 West Virginia 111, in the 2005 second round.
- 214 points: No. 5 UCLA 102, No. 12 Tulsa 112 in the first round in 1994.
- 207 points: 1992 104 for No. 1 Duke, 103 for No. 2 Kentucky
- 207 points: No. 12 Long Beach State 86, No. 5 Tennessee 121 in the 2007 first round.
- 206 points: No. 1 North Carolina 109, No. 9 Michigan 97 in the second round of 1987
- 206 points: 1998, No. 5 Louisville 98, No. 1 Oklahoma 108 in the Sweet 16
- 206 points: No. 1 Cincinnati 105, No. 8 UCLA 105 2002 second round
- 205 points: the second round of 1989, No. 9 Louisiana Tech 81, No. 1 Oklahoma 124
- 205 points: the second round of 1994, No. 9 Wisconsin 96, No. 1 Missouri 109
- 204 points: No. 10 Iowa State 98, No. 2 Kentucky 106 1992 second round
