The Unbreakable Bearcats Basketball Records

Any good sports fan will tell you that records are made to be broken. Almost every year, a Bearcat raises the bar with a record-breaking performance. However, some records are so untouchable that it stands to reason they’ll never be broken. I combed through the UC history books and picked out the ones that made me gasp.

Unbreakable Bearcats records:

The non-Oscar records that figure to stand for eternity.

Single-game Minutes Played: 73 by Bobby Austin vs Bradley (12/21/81)*

This is also an NCAA record. Three players who played in the 1981 Cincinnati vs. Bradley 7OT game sit behind Austin. The closest player from a different game is David Kennedy, who played 60 minutes in a game against Memphis in January 1981.

Single-game Rebounds: 33 by Connie Dierking vs Loyola (LA) (2/16/57)

Dierking also lays claim to second place, with 31 rebounds, and shares the third place record with Jack Twyman.

Single-season 3pt FG Made: 127 by LaZelle Durden (1994–95)

It’ll take a serious sharpshooter to beat this one. Second place also belongs to Durden, who made 102 the previous year. He’s the only player to crack 100. Deonta Vaughn nailed 97 shots in 2007–08.

Single-season RPG: 18.8 by Connie Dierking (1956–57)

Probably the only laughably absurd record that doesn’t belong to Oscar. Second place belongs to Jack Twyman, who twice averaged 16.5 rebounds, while third place is The Big O.

Career Blocked Shots: 292 by Kenyon Martin (1996–00)

Maybe this could be beaten by a four-year defensive machine, but it would be tough. The next closest Bearcat is Eric Hicks with 256. Third is Jason Maxiell (252). Justin Jackson, who seemed to be a block factory, is in fourth with 219.

Consecutive Games Played: 140 by Sean Kilpatrick (2010–14)

An iron horse. The fact he was able to do this while playing in the physical and extremely competitive Old Big East is unfathomable. That league would beat guys to shreds, but SK was bulletproof.

Career Victories: 111 by Steve Logan (1998–02)

This is a record I hope to see fall. Kilpatrick sits behind Logan with 101 victories, which may be more impressive considering the compeition he faced in the Old Big East. Let’s put together some postseasons runs and give Gary Clark or Jacob Evans a run at this.

Career Personal Fouls: 391 by Dwight Jones (1979–83)

I don’t have much of a baseline for how many fouls is too many, but this sounds like too many. It’s been standing since the ’80s, and not even Justin Jackson could come within 20 fouls.

Unbreakable Oscar Robertson Records:

The man deserves his own category. There are actually so many records that I kinda skipped the less exciting and semi-repetitive ones.

Single-game Points: 62 vs North Texas State (2/8/60)

Self-explanatory. The UC Media Guide lists the top six single-game scoring performances, and they’re all Oscar and all 50 points or more. I’d be mind-blown to see a Bearcat hit 40, much less 62.

Single-game NCAA Tourney Points: 56 vs Arkansas (3/15/58)

Aside from his career points record, this may be the most untouchable. College basketball would crack in half if somebody scored 56 points in a tournament game today. It’ll never happen.

Single-season Points: 1,011 (1959–60)

All three of Oscar’s seasons take the top slots. The next closest player is Steve Logan, who scored 770 points in 2001–02. For a more modern frame of reference, SK’s senior season, in which he was the sole driver of the offense, clocked in at 701 points.

Single-season PPG: 35.1 (1957–58)

Twyman once had 24.6. The Logan season I mentioned above was 22.0, which is pretty impressive for the modern era.

Single-season FT Made/Attempted: 316/398 (1958–59)

Danny Fortson has the modern record for his 1995–96 season, and still trails in both makes and attempts by roughly 100.

Career Triple Doubles: 10

Every Bearcat since has combined for five total.

Career FT Made/Attempted: 869/1,114

That attempt figure is insane, and clocks in at #5 in NCAA history. The next closest Bearcat is Danny Fortson with 769. Not even kinda close. Also, Oscar has made the fourth most free throws in NCAA history, trailing Tyler Hansbrough, Dickie Hemric, and Pete Maravich.

Career Rebounds: 1,338

Twyman’s original record was impressive at 1,242. The most recent player to come within shouting distance was Dwight Jones, who had just 983.

Career Field Goals Made: 1,052

The craziest thing about this one is that it’s “only” 14th in NCAA history. The last player to pass Oscar was Doug McDermott, who hit 1,141. That’s a Space Jam number.

Career PPG: 33.8

My favorite part about this record is who owns second place. That would be Lloyd Batts, who had a killer afro and played for the Bearcats from 1971–74. His career average with 20.1 points per game. The closest modern challenger was Danny Fortson with an 18.8 career average.

Career Points: 2,973

The legendary one. Ninth in NCAA history. No Bearcat will touch it. Kilpatrick was a pure scorer who hit Clifton at the perfect time, allowing him the chance to start contributing heavily early in his career. He played four years and he was able to reach 2,145. Oscar almost hit 3,000 points in just three varsity seasons.

While we’re at it, I should mention that there’s a current Bearcat on pace to set a record that may be pretty tough to top. Gary Clark is on pace to start 136 games, assuming he continues at 34 games per season. The current record is 123, held by Deonta Vaughn.