In Reply to: Trivia time! What was Kareem's ppg his first year at UCLA? posted by atrojanedbruin on October 24, 2025 at 05:02:10
Lew Alcindor's first game was of course beating the varsity (defending national champions) 75-60. He "only" went for 31 and 21 in that game.
His first game against JC competition was vs Orange Coast. He played 27 minutes and passing up many shots had 23 points, 18 rebounds, 6 assists and several blocks. UCLA won 119-43.
Next up was Pierce JC. In a "close" win (for them) 94-64, he had 27 points, 28 rebounds and 5 blocks.
They went on to win by scores of 117-51, 91-46 and then against San Diego CC he broke the freshman scoring record with 48 points on 21-23 shooting (take that Mr. Walton!) with 18 rebounds. Super trivia: Whose record did he break and who broke his record?
They squeaked by the next game 133-51 and then the big one. Citrus JC fell by a score of 152-49. They scored 68 in the first half and 84 in the second. Alcindor had 42, Lucius Allen had 34 and Lynn Shackelford had 30. When asked why the starters played most of the game, Wooden said "If we take them out when they have a game won, they won't play for more than 15 minutes. I want them to get experience. That's what we play freshman games for, to develop players for the varsity . . ."
Next was the Orange St (now Cal St Fullerton) frosh, who held the ball for long periods of time to keep UCLA under 100, 98-60, Chaffey. 114-48, Pepperdine frosh, 121-46, and Glendale, 106-70, with Alcindor going for 34 points and 29 rebounds.
Then a road game at Valley St. (now CSUN). Alcindor, Allen and Shackelford combined for 90 points with Shack making 13 of 13, most from the deep corner.
Fullerton JC (102-74), UC Irvine frosh (102-47), San Bernardino (109-72), Palomar (125-53), LACC (125-57), (Alcindor 37 points and 33 rebounds), Santa Barbara (123-55, Alcindor season low 22 but Allen, Shackelford and Kenny Heitz also over 20) and Hancock (111-61, Allen near triple double 34pts, 14rbs, 9ast) followed.
They ended the seasom with back-to-back games against USC. In a preview of what was to come in future years, the Trojan frosh stalled for the first five minutes and the game was scoreless until 13:14 remained in the half. It was only 6-2 after the first ten minutes. Finally, the Bruin press caused turnovers and they won 72-44, the closest game all year. When a reporter asked Trojan coach Bill Mulligan if he was making a travesty of the game he replied, "I think Alcindor is a travesty of the game . . . he's too good." The next night, Alcindor dominated with 35 points and 25 rebounds in a 108-74 win.
The team ended up 21-0 with an average victory margin of 58 points. Alcindor averaged 33 points and 22 rebounds, Allen 22 points, Shackelford 21 and Heitz 14.