No one has ever been able to score with the ball like Pete Maravich. He perfected the mid-range game before there was such a thing. He dribbled the ball as if it were on a string. He had finesse and speed when the game was played at a stoic pace. It's no secret that "Pistol" was ahead of his time, especially during his college basketball career at LSU.
Videos by FanBuzz
Maravich poured in 3,667 points by averaging 44.2 per game in his three seasons on the varsity squad in Baton Rouge — both NCAA records that stand to this day. Dropping 40 or 50 was a regular outing for him, but even players who usually score at a blistering clip have days where they're unconscious.
For "Pistol Pete," one of those days was Feb. 7, 1970, when he scored 69 points against the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Pete Maravich Scores 69 Against Alabama in 1970
RELATED: Pete Maravich's Collegiate Career Will Never Be Topped
First off, there isn't a player who's ever had more of a green light than Maravich did at LSU. His dad, Press Maravich, was the head coach and gave him a police siren to use during rush hour.
Heading into the Alabama matchup, Pete was going to fire at will regardless of the pulled muscles in his legs. And that he did. 'Bama "held" him to 22 points in the first half, but he responded by dropping 47 in the second. He finished the game by going 26 for 57 from the field and 17 for 21 from the free-throw line. All in all, Maravich accounted for 65% of the team's makes and took 72% of the team's free throws.
I have to give credit where credit is due. Scoring 69 on bum legs is an incredible feat, and he also tweaked his ankle late in the SEC matchup. His achievement broke Niagara guard Calvin Murphy's 68-point performance for most points in a single game against a Division I opponent, set only 14 months prior. Pistol's record would stand for 21 years until Kevin Bradshaw of U.S. International dropped 72 against Loyola Marymount in a 186-140 defensive battle.
Individually, the performance is an all-timer, but here's the kicker: LSU lost 106-104. To add more craziness, Pete almost fought a fan after the game for allegedly pushing him in the back, but Press stopped him. Saturdays in Tuscaloosa are magical.
We'll never see another college player like Pete Maravich. His records are unbreakable, and this outing was his best in an LSU uniform—although as the great Herm Edwards once told us, "You play to win the game."
