Records Were Made to Be Broken (The Right Way)

LeBron James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA's all-time leading scorer a few weeks ago.  And Alexander Ovechkin has a realistic shot of doing something that was once considered impossible--passing Wayne Gretzky as the NHL's all-time leader in goals (he still needs 150 more, but it's very realistic to think he can get there early in the 2025-26 season).  Another hallowed long-time record may or may not fall this season, as well--Pete Maravich's NCAA scoring record.

The University of Detroit Mercy's Antoine Davis entered the Titans' Horizon League Tournament quarterfinal game against Youngstown State needing 26 points to pass Pistol Pete.  He finished with 22 in the 71-66 loss, leaving him three shy of the record.  Detroit Mercy is 14-19 and obviously won't make the NCAA Tournament or NIT, but could still be selected for the CBI, which doesn't require teams to have a .500 record to participate.

It wouldn't be a surprise at all if Detroit Mercy is invited to play in the CBI.  The tournament plays third fiddle and would obviously love the publicity.  And Detroit Mercy, you would think, would be willing to pay the entry fee to get Davis an extra game and give him the chance to break the record.  But do you really want to break a record like that?  Buying an extra game solely for that reason?

None of this is meant to diminish what Davis has done.  He's scored 3,664 career points and averaged more than 25 points per game throughout his career.  Finishing four points shy of breaking such a hallowed record must be a painful pill to swallow.  But there's nothing wrong with second place.  Especially when Detroit Mercy playing an extra game just so he can break the record would cheapen it.  And that's not fair to him.

Some context is necessary here, too.  Everyone was given an extra year of eligibility because of COVID (don't get me started on that...D1 basketball teams played full seasons in both 2019-20 and 2020-21, so where did they lose a season that the need to get back?).  As a result, Davis was able to play five full seasons.  He had "only" 2,734 points at the end of last season, so if not for that fifth year, we wouldn't even be having this conversation.

Is the extra year of eligibility his fault?  Of course not!  And I don't begrudge Davis for taking advantage of the opportunity to come back and play one final season.  That fifth year had a huge impact on his stats, though.  And that needs to be acknowledged.  Especially if Detroit Mercy ends up playing an extra game in the CBI just so that he can break the record.

For the sake of comparison, Davis has played 144 games in five seasons.  Freshmen weren't eligible in Maravich's day, so he only played three years and 83 games.  That's the biggest difference right there.  Davis hasn't just played two more years.  He played 60 more games!  Maravich also played without the benefit of the three-point line (and before the shot clock), while Davis is the all-time NCAA leader in three-pointers (578).

Just imagine how many more points Pistol Pete would've scored had the three-pointer been around back then!  Or if he'd been eligible as a freshman (he scored 741 points in 19 games with LSU's freshman team in 1966-67).  Teams played fewer games then, too, and LSU never made the NCAA Tournament during his career (although they did play in the 1970 NIT).  The SEC didn't even have a postseason tournament then.  So, it's conceivable (in fact, likely) that Maravich would've scored more than 4,000 points!

To say Pete Maravich was the greatest scorer in NCAA men's basketball history is not an exaggeration.  Whether Davis plays another game and breaks his all-time record or not, he'll come nowhere near Maravich's 44.2 point-per-game average.  He averaged 44.2 points per game!  For his career!  That's just inconceivable on so many levels!  (Maravich scored at least 1,100 points all three seasons at LSU, too.)

One area where Davis has a significant "advantage" is in the number of shots taken.  He's attempted 2,934 field goals to Maravich's 3,166.  However, that also needs context.  Because Davis has a career field goal percentage of .408.  Maravich's was .438.  So, it's not like Maravich was out there chucking up bad shots just to get his points (seriously, watch his highlights on YouTube sometime).  And, don't forget, Davis has a 578-0 advantage in career three-pointers, so you needed to shoot more in order to score in those days.

Comparing Maravich and Davis head-to-head like this isn't particularly fair to either one of them.  I understand that.  But, unfortunately, that's the situation we find ourselves in.  And, should Detroit Mercy play in the CBI and Davis breaks the record, I'm sure the Maravich family will be gracious and congratulate him on the accomplishment (hopefully they don't act like Roger Maris's son during Aaron Judge's home run chase last season, refusing to acknowledge Barry Bonds as the single-season MLB record-holder).

Which brings me back to the possibility of seeing Detroit Mercy in the CBI.  Youngstown State was the No. 1 seed in the Horizon Tournament and played that quarterfinal on its home court.  The Penguins went into the game knowing how many points Davis needed and did not want to see the record broken on their own floor.  They achieved that goal.

Had the Titans won that game and advanced to the semifinals, there's no question that Davis would've gotten the four points he needed to break the record.  And, despite the asterisks (the three-point line, the fifth full season), there wouldn't have been any questions about the record's legitimacy had Davis done it against Youngstown State (or in the semifinals).  Nor will there be questions about its legitimacy should he do it in the first round of the CBI.  But that doesn't make it right.

If Detroit Mercy wants to play in the CBI and give Davis a chance to break Pistol Pete's scoring record, that's entirely up to them.  It would be exactly what it looks like, though.  Which probably wouldn't sit well with a lot of people.  Which is why I hope either Detroit Mercy or CBI does the right thing and the invitation is either declined or not extended.  Even if it means Antonie Davis finishes his career three points out of first place on the all-time NCAA scoring list.