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The NCAA men’s basketball national championship game has featured many outstanding moments in its 86-year history, with close finishes also becoming expected from the event.
There have also been several standout performances. We’ve seen stars rise to the occasion, players lift their team up to a title and unexpected role players pop off for scoring outbursts in the championship game over the years.
Several Houston and Florida players will hope to follow in their footsteps and have their “One Shining Moment” on Monday night when the two schools battle for the title. While neither team boasts this year’s National Player of the Year or the award’s runner-up — like the two teams they defeated in the Final Four — both have an experienced guard who has shown the ability to go off for 30-plus points in the tournament.
Even though the two programs have combined for five national championship game appearances, no former Houston or Florida player ranks in the top for the most points ever scored in a title game. Can Walter Clayton Jr., L.J. Cryer or someone else crack their way into the top 10?
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A star was able to last year, but let’s take a look at the 10-highest-scoring performances ever in a national championship game.
10 highest scoring performances in a national championship game
T-10. Villanova‘s Donte DiVincenzo: 31 points vs. Michigan (2018)
After winning Big East Sixth Man of the Year for his play in the 2017-18 regular season, DiVincenzo became the ultimate sixth man in the national championship game. He scored 31 points off the bench in the 2018 title game, going 10-of-15 from the field and 5-of-7 from 3-point range. He made several electrifying plays, showing his athleticism on multiple dunks as he added a pair of blocks in Villanova’s 79-62 victory.
T-10. Michigan’s Glen Rice: 31 points vs. Seton Hall (1989)
Thanks to overtime, Rice was able to sneak his way onto this list. Michigan’s star scored 31 points on 12-of-25 shooting in the Wolverines’ 80-79 title game victory in 1989. Even though the 3-point line was only three years old in the college game, Rice used it to his advantage. He knocked down 5 3-pointers to go with a game-high 11 rebounds.
T-10. Kansas‘ Danny Manning: 31 points vs. Oklahoma (1988)
Manning might have put up the greatest individual performance ever in a national championship game in 1988. The Kansas star scored 31 points on 13-of-24 shooting to go with 18 rebounds, five steals, two assists and two blocks in an 83-79 win over Oklahoma. Despite Kansas’ blue blood status, the Jayhawks were actually an underdog in the title game, holding a sixth seed while going up against the No. 1-seeded Sooners. Manning won the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award as Kansas was later nicknamed “Danny and the Miracles” for that year.
9. Kansas’ Clyde Lovellette: 33 points vs. St. John’s (1952)
Well before Manning’s all-time performance, Lovellette set a record for the most points scored in a national championship game at the time. The senior center put up 33 points on 12-of-25 shooting to go with 17 rebounds to help Kansas take down St. John’s, 80-63.
T-7. Kentucky‘s Kevin Grevey: 34 points vs. UCLA (1975)
Grevey did his best to try and spoil John Wooden’s final game as a college basketball head coach. The senior guard scored 18 points in the opening 12 minutes of the 1975 title game en route to a 34-point performance, going 13-of-30 from the field. However, UCLA was able to outlast Grevey’s scoring outburst, winning 92-85 to help send Wooden off with a 10th championship.
T-7. UCLA’s Lew Alcindor: 34 points vs. North Carolina (1968)
You don’t become arguably the greatest college basketball player of all time without a signature performance in a big game. Alcindor had one of his signature games in the 1968 national championship, scoring 34 points on an efficient 15-of-21 shooting to go with 16 rebounds. The Bruins’ victory was never in doubt because of Alcindor’s performance, winning 78-55 to help UCLA go back-to-back.
6. Seton Hall’s John Morton: 35 points vs. Michigan (1989)
While Rice put up one of the highest-scoring performances in a title game en route to victory, he was outscored that night in 1989. Morton put up 35 points, shooting 11-of-16 from the field as he set a record for the most points scored by a player on the losing team in the national championship game. That record was held for 35 years until …
T-4. Purdue‘s Zach Edey: 37 points vs. UConn (2024)
Edey broke Morton’s record for the most points scored by a player on the losing team in a national championship game last season. The two-time National Player of the Year put up an efficient 37-point performance, making 15 of his 25 shots from the field as he also had 10 rebounds and two blocks. But Edey’s Purdue squad never really threatened UConn in its quest to win back-to-back titles, losing 75-60.
T-4. UCLA’s Lew Alcindor: 37 points vs. Purdue (1969)
Alcindor’s 34-point performance in the 1968 national championship game wasn’t even his all-time best performance in a title game. He topped that outing a year later, scoring 37 points on 15-of-20 shooting. He also had 20 rebounds, making Alcindor the only player to record 30 points and 20 rebounds in a national championship game. The performance sent Alcindor out on a high note, winning his third straight national championship.
3. Kentucky’s Jack Givens: 41 points vs. Duke (1978)
Givens went on an individual run to help Kentucky separate itself from Duke in the first half of the 1978 national championship game, scoring the Wildcats’ final 16 points of the frame to give them a seven-point lead going into the break. That run gave Givens 23 points at halftime, scoring 18 more in the second half as he shot 18-of-27 from the field. Unlike Alcindor and some of the others here, Kentucky needed essentially all of those points, as it won 94-88.
2. UCLA’s Gail Goodrich: 42 points vs. Michigan (1965)
Goodrich can be thanked as one of the pioneers of UCLA’s greatness between the 1960s and 70s. A year after helping the Bruins win their first title in 1964, Goodrich upped his game in the 1965 national championship game. He scored 42 points on 12-of-22 shooting, doing a lot of damage at the free-throw line as he made 18 of his 20 attempts from the charity stripe. UCLA went on to win, 91-80.
1. UCLA’s Bill Walton: 44 points vs. Memphis (1973)
Everyone wishes they could’ve been as hot from the field as Walton was in the 1973 national title game. The all-time great made 21 of 22 shots from the field to score 44 points and win his second national title. Walton’s shooting numbers were actually better than that, going 25-of-26 from the field. However, four of those makes were disallowed due to the NCAA’s no dunking rule at the time. The win also marked UCLA’s seventh straight national championship.
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