Notre Dame legend Austin Carr holds the all-time record for the most points in a game in the March Madness tournament, with 61. This begs the question: Despite how close to impossible this feat would be to achieve, could anyone ever do it?
Carr is one of the best basketball players to ever play at Notre Dame. He finished with 2,560 points in his 74 games played. In 1971, Carr played perhaps his best season yet, winning the Naismith College Player of the Year award and the Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year award and being a First-Team All-American.
Can Anyone Ever Break Austin Carr’s 61-Point March Madness Record?
Finishing off his impressive college career, Carr was put in the College Basketball Hall Of Fame as a part of the Class of 2007. He also made the Notre Dame Basketball Ring of Honor as a part of the Class of 2011. So, can anyone even come close to the type of numbers he put up?
Austin Carr still holds the NCAA Tournament-record 61 points 🔥 pic.twitter.com/kb1Yt2hvmK
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 14, 2022
More than half a century after his impressive 61-point performance in a March Madness tournament game, it still stands as the greatest overall performance. We have seen many great college players come and go, but nobody has even come close in recent years.
On the Most Points Scored by a player in a NCAA tournament game list, no player who has played college basketball from the year 2000 onwards cracks the top 20.
The most recent player in the Top 20 comes all the way back in 1994 when Glenn Robinson scored 44 points with Purdue.
If that’s not impressive enough, Carr is also in the record books for scoring 52 points twice in an NCAA tournament game: 47 and 45. Carr went on to have his number retired by the Cleveland Cavaliers after a legendary 11-year career in the NBA, nine of which were played in Cleveland. Carr was also known to many in Cleveland as “Mr. Cavalier.”
There’s no question why Carr was selected as the first overall pick in the 1971 NBA Draft. He was one of the best basketball players the game has ever seen, whether on the college or NBA levels. Most players around today can only dream of having the career he did.
Most of the time, records are made to be broken. So, can anyone ever break the 61-point game, whether it be in this year’s March Madness or another? We’ll see. There is a lot of talent in the NCAA college basketball world, whether it be Cooper Flagg or Johni Broome. However, there’s a reason this accomplishment has lasted for over 50 years.
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