(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part of a series of articles by Times News writer Rich Strack. After previously writing about the “Greatest Games” and “Greatest Comebacks” in sports history, Strack will now give his thoughts on the “Greatest Individual Performances.” Today’s topic is college basketball)

By Rich Strack

tnsports@tnonline.com

Almost every sport, from the professional and college ranks down to high school and youth leagues has recently seen their season suspended or canceled.

With the process of starting up sports again still in its infancy, there remains a void for the athletes and fans alike.

If you’re like me, with many years of devotion to athletic competition, some of the greatest events from the past are still being played in your memory rewind.

So sit back and let me distract you from public concerns for just a moment with Part 6 of a series on the “Greatest Individual Performances” that will remain forever in my personal Hall of Fame.

Today, I give you two of the best single-game college basketball player performances of my lifetime, and one other from the early 20th century that has local interest.

1988 NCAA championship game

Danny Manning vs Oklahoma

Entering the NCAA tournament, the Kansas Jayhawks had an unimpressive 21-11 record.

Star player Danny Manning told his teammates, “We’re not supposed to be here so let’s just have fun,” and they soon found themselves playing the heavily favorite Oklahoma Sooners in the title game.

Most coaches will tell you that you can’t win if you turn the ball over. Kansas lost possession six times in the first six minutes, 12 times after 15 minutes, and committed an astounding 18 turnovers in the opening 25 minutes of play.

Yet when they did keep the ball and got off their shots, the Jayhawks hit 20 of their first 24 attempts from the floor.

In the second half, OU (34-3) took the lead at 68-65, but the Sooners would score only three points over the next nine minutes.

Manning scored 31 points from layups, corner threes and turnaround jumpers in the paint. He ripped down 18 rebounds, most coming during OU’s one-and-done second-half shot attempts. He stole the ball five times, and had two blocked shots in KU’s 83-79 title-clinching victory.

1970 regular season

Pete Maravich vs Alabama

In this game, “Pistol” Pete Maravich, who was averaging 44 points a game for the LSU Tigers, dropped in 69 in a 106-104 loss to the Crimson Tide. He scored 17 points from the charity stripe, while his 44 from the floor were from all over, including numerous bombs that would have been three-pointers if the rule had been in place.

The Tide “held” Maravich to just 22 at the half, but then the “Pistol” got hot, gunning down an incredible 47 second-half points.

During the second half, a brawl occurred when a photographer tried to slap Maravich’s hand after he drilled a long basket. Maravich believed he was in the way, so he pushed him, sending both teams to jostle on the court.

The Alabama football team left the stands and joined the fracas, but Maravich kept his focus and his scoring splurge continued, but it wasn’t enough for LSU to win the game.

1951 regular season

Bill Mlkvy vs. Wilkes College

OK, I was a few months shy of my first breath in this world, but Temple’s “Owl without a Vowel” performance against Wilkes was nothing short of extraordinary.

Mlkvy scored 54 unanswered points for Temple, while no teammate scored as much as a free throw in between. He finished with 73 points, and outscored the entire Wilke’s team in Temple’s 99-69 win.

His teammates recognized Mlkvy was having a super game and fed him the ball nearly every time the Owls crossed the midcourt line. He scored off the pivot, off the drive and off the now-defunct two-handed set shot from long range. His buckets came off his right hand and his left hand. There were times Wilkes defended him with three - and even four - players, yet he still scored.

Mlvky’s 54 straight points is an NCAA record that is unlikely to ever be broken.

Final thoughts

A guy named Manning who never played football, a hot shot who looked like a leftover from Woodstock, and a future dentist who had a name most people couldn’t pronounce had great careers, trademarked by these great individual performances.

Manning proved he could put his underdog team on his back and slay the giant. Maravich could score from another planet, and he often did with his bombs from nearly half court. Mlkvy had a night when he could have shot from the second row of the bleachers and it would have gone in (Actually, he admitted he tried that when pushed into the seats by a defender, but that one he missed).

It’s been said in some games the basketball has eyes of its own and will find a way to the fall in the net even if the shooter is blindfolded. The great shooters have often trained that way, trusting their instinct and feel to shoot the ball.

Just ask five-time Guinness Book record holder Fred Newman, who owns the world record for making 88 free throws made in a row, all while wearing a blindfold.