A record-setting date in Aztec Basketball history

By Ken Ables

Today is the anniversary of the highest scoring basketball game in Aztec history. Any guess which Aztec game it was?

Was it the 138 points Smokey Gaines’ Aztecs put up vs. USIU in 1986? Close. That game held the record for points scored vs. a D-1 team—but not all-time. There was one record set that night however: Aztec Hall of Famer Anthony Watson’s 54 points is still the Aztec single-game scoring record.

We know Steve Fisher’s 2013 Aztecs that beat Saint Katherine 118-35 didn’t set the points record, but an 83-point margin of victory has to be the record, right? Wrong. Impressive, but not the Aztec record.

Both records were set 70 years ago today – January 15, 1954 – George Ziegenfuss’s Aztecs set the team records for total points scored and margin of victory in a 140-37 victory of Chapman College.

Yes, you read that right: 140 points scored in a game with no shot clock and no 3-point line. And that game was no fluke: the 1953-54 Aztecs broke 100 twice and 90 three other times.

My Dad, Tom Ables, was at that game, one of the 1,000+ Aztec basketball games he attended between 1946 and 2017. If you ever met him, you know how he loved to tell a story, especially ones about the Aztecs. And this was one of his favorites (I can’t tell you how many times I heard it!).

The game was played at Aztec Gym, the home court prior to Peterson Gym. As was the case at most gyms of that era, the scoreboard only went as high as 99. Not a problem for most games. But this was not like most games.

Chapman was overmatched all night. Eight Aztecs scored in double figures, led by Aztec Hall of Famer Bob Brady’s 23 and Danny Newport’s 16.

They were subbed out for the night when the score hit 66-19. The score was 89-26 through three quarters (college ball switched to two 20-minute halves the next season).

On their way to scoring 51 points in the final quarter, the Aztec subs quickly passed 100 and the scoreboard showed 2 points instead of 102. The crowd grew louder with each Aztec basket as the home team got closer to lapping the Panthers. The loudest cheer came when the scoreboard read 38-37 and the Aztecs, as my Dad loved to say, “beat them twice.”

In the San Diego Union’s recap of the game the next day, Aztec beat writer Howard Hagen wrote: “Needless to report, the score represented a new Aztec single game record and quite likely will never be surpassed by a State team.”

Seventy years later, it still hasn’t been surpassed. And quite likely never will. 

GO AZTECS!

The SDSU men’s basketball team take on the Nevada Wolfpack this Wednesday, January 17th at Viejas Arena. The game will feature the raising of three basketball jerseys from hall of famers Milky Phelps, Judy Porter, and Michael Cage. More to come tonight on our Live YouTube podcast at 8pm PST. Hope to see you there and join us!