When the games were played ...
Daily look back at some of the great sporting events that happened on this day
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1939: Long Island University finishes the season undefeated after a 44-32 victory over Loyola of Chicago in the NIT championship.
1948: Alex Groza and Ralph Beard combine for 26 points to lead Kentucky to a 58-42 win over Baylor in the NCAA basketball championship.
1956: Bill Russell leads San Francisco to an 83-71 victory over Iowa in the NCAA basketball championship.
1957: North Carolina defeats Wilt Chamberlain and Kansas in triple-overtime to win the NCAA men’s championship. The Tar Heels win, 54-53, to finish the season with a perfect 32-0 record.
1968: Lew Alcindor scores 34 points to lead UCLA to a 78-55 win over North Carolina in the NCAA basketball championship.
1974: N.C. State ends UCLA’s streak of seven national championships with an 80-77 victory in double overtime of the NCAA tournament semifinals. David Thompson leads the Wolfpack with 28 points and 10 rebounds, while teammate Tom Burleson scores 20 and pulls down 14 rebounds.
1979: Larry Holmes knocks out Osvaldo Ocasio in the seventh round in Las Vegas to retain his WBC heavyweight title.
1991: London beats Frankfurt, 24-11, in the first World League of American Football game.
1993: Winnipeg’s Teemu Selanne sets an NHL rookie points record in a 5-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Selanne scores two goals and an assist to give him 111 points, surpassing the 109 that Peter Stastny got with the Quebec Nordiques in 1980-81.
1994: Wayne Gretzky scores his 802nd goal, passing Gordie Howe as the greatest goal-scorer in NHL history.
The Los Angeles Kings center scores in the second period for his 62nd NHL record.
1996: Michelle Kwan caps a near-perfect season by winning the women’s title in the World Figure Skating Championships for the United States’ first singles sweep since 1986.
1997: Laura Davies becomes the first LPGA player to win the same tournament four consecutive years, holing a 3-foot par putt on the first hole of a playoff with Kelly Robbins in the Standard Register Ping.
2002: Brendan Shanahan of the Red Wings scores his 500th career goal, breaking a scoreless tie at 7:48 of the third period. Detroit beat Colorado, 2-0.
2002: Iowa State’s Cael Sanderson becomes the first undefeated four-time NCAA wrestling champion at the NCAA Championships. Sanderson beats Lehigh’s Jon Trenge, 12-4, to win at 197 pounds and finish his career with a perfect 159-0 record.
2003: Tiger Woods closes with a 4-under 68 to win the Bay Hill Invitational for the fourth straight time. Woods becomes the first player since Gene Sarazen in the Miami Open (1926-30) to win the same event four straight times.
2005: Indiana’s Reggie Miller becomes the 13th NBA player to score 25,000 career points during the Pacers’ 100-93 win over San Antonio.
2007: Kobe Bryant becomes the second player in NBA history to score at least 50 points in four straight games when he scores 50 in the Lakers’ 111-105 win at New Orleans.
Only Wilt Chamberlain has more, scoring at least 50 points in seven consecutive games during the 1961-62 season.
2010: The NFL changes its overtime rules for playoff games to give both teams an opportunity to get the ball. Team owners vote 28-4 in favor of the proposal at the NFL meetings. Minnesota, Buffalo, Cincinnati and Baltimore oppose the change.
In this March 23, 1968 photo, UCLA's Lew Alcindor, with the basket netting draped over his shoulders, holds a sign just after leading UCLA to the NCAA basketball championship in Los Angeles on March 23, 1968.
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