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1992, George Raveling, 23-6
It took George Raveling probably two years more than he expected to get SC basketball to where he wanted, but after four tough years SC made the NCAAT in 90-91, and was poised for a strong year in 91-92. That season SC would have an incredibly reliable group of starters in Duane Cooper, Phil Glenn, Harold Miner, Mark Boyd and Yamen Sanders. Only Boyd did not start all 30 games, and he started 27. SC also had a strong bench with Lorenzo Orr, Rodney Chatman and Duane Hackett. SC was unranked to start the 91-92 season, and it got off to a rocky start with a nine point loss at Nebraska, but then ripped off five wins in a row to set up a nationally televised game against #4 Ohio State at the Sports Arena on Dec 21st. In a very tight back and forth game, SC won in OT off of a lob dunk from Cooper to Miner, who finished with 31 points. SC then lost at home against ND and got blown out at Arizona, so was 7-3 on Jan 10, 1992.
Next came the best run of hoops for SC in 20+ years. Raveling's team would finish out the year 15-2, with the only losses being at OSU and WSU in the second game of the two game road trips. The run included a 10 point win at #24 Stanford, followed by a win at Cal where they trailed most of the game. SC returned to the rankings at #25, and next up was the showdown against undefeated and #2 ranked UCLA at Pauley Pavilion. SC dominated the game, leading by as many as 14, but UCLA clawed back to make it close. In the end a tip-in by Mark Boyd sealed the deal, and SC had its biggest win since beating #1 UCLA at Pauley back in 1970. After an OT win vs Stanford at the Sports Arena, it was the return match against #4 UCLA. It was a hard fought back and forth game, but in the second half Miner provided one of the greatest single moments in SC hoops history with a game defining drive down the lane and two handed slam. SC won by four, and I got great joy out of how Don McLean described it on the Pac 12 Network show that named the greatest basketball players in conference history. For the Harold Miner segment (the only other SC player named was Westphal) McLean said, "my senior year we would have been undefeated in Conference, but no one could figure out how to guard Harold Miner."
The final game of the regular season was against #2 ranked Arizona at the Sports Arena. USC had lost 12 of the last 13 against the Wildcats, with that one win being the year before at the Sports Arena. UCLA had beaten Arizona on the previous Thursday to win the conference with only 2 losses, both to USC, so this game would be for the outright conference #2 spot. Once again it was a back and forth affair, with Arizona leading by 1. SC missed the front end of a one-and-one, and a scramble ensued with Mark Boyd ripping the ball away and finding Duane Cooper, who shot an air ball. The ball, however, found Rodney Chatman who shot it, and made it, at the buzzer for a one point win.
There was no Conference tourney at the time, so SC ended the regular season 22-5, which was the third best season win % wise in 50 years, and included beating the #2 ranked team in the county twice and the #4 ranked team twice. This led to SC's highest NCAA seed ever, before or since, as #2 in the Midwest Region behind #1 seed Kansas. SC would play the first two rounds at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. The round one game against 15 seed Louisiana Monroe was a blow out, with SC up 13 at half, and winning by 30. Next up was #7 seed Georgia Tech, and it was a game SC had won, until one of the most famous/infamous shots in NCAAT history.
It took George Raveling probably two years more than he expected to get SC basketball to where he wanted, but after four tough years SC made the NCAAT in 90-91, and was poised for a strong year in 91-92. That season SC would have an incredibly reliable group of starters in Duane Cooper, Phil Glenn, Harold Miner, Mark Boyd and Yamen Sanders. Only Boyd did not start all 30 games, and he started 27. SC also had a strong bench with Lorenzo Orr, Rodney Chatman and Duane Hackett. SC was unranked to start the 91-92 season, and it got off to a rocky start with a nine point loss at Nebraska, but then ripped off five wins in a row to set up a nationally televised game against #4 Ohio State at the Sports Arena on Dec 21st. In a very tight back and forth game, SC won in OT off of a lob dunk from Cooper to Miner, who finished with 31 points. SC then lost at home against ND and got blown out at Arizona, so was 7-3 on Jan 10, 1992.
Next came the best run of hoops for SC in 20+ years. Raveling's team would finish out the year 15-2, with the only losses being at OSU and WSU in the second game of the two game road trips. The run included a 10 point win at #24 Stanford, followed by a win at Cal where they trailed most of the game. SC returned to the rankings at #25, and next up was the showdown against undefeated and #2 ranked UCLA at Pauley Pavilion. SC dominated the game, leading by as many as 14, but UCLA clawed back to make it close. In the end a tip-in by Mark Boyd sealed the deal, and SC had its biggest win since beating #1 UCLA at Pauley back in 1970. After an OT win vs Stanford at the Sports Arena, it was the return match against #4 UCLA. It was a hard fought back and forth game, but in the second half Miner provided one of the greatest single moments in SC hoops history with a game defining drive down the lane and two handed slam. SC won by four, and I got great joy out of how Don McLean described it on the Pac 12 Network show that named the greatest basketball players in conference history. For the Harold Miner segment (the only other SC player named was Westphal) McLean said, "my senior year we would have been undefeated in Conference, but no one could figure out how to guard Harold Miner."
The final game of the regular season was against #2 ranked Arizona at the Sports Arena. USC had lost 12 of the last 13 against the Wildcats, with that one win being the year before at the Sports Arena. UCLA had beaten Arizona on the previous Thursday to win the conference with only 2 losses, both to USC, so this game would be for the outright conference #2 spot. Once again it was a back and forth affair, with Arizona leading by 1. SC missed the front end of a one-and-one, and a scramble ensued with Mark Boyd ripping the ball away and finding Duane Cooper, who shot an air ball. The ball, however, found Rodney Chatman who shot it, and made it, at the buzzer for a one point win.
There was no Conference tourney at the time, so SC ended the regular season 22-5, which was the third best season win % wise in 50 years, and included beating the #2 ranked team in the county twice and the #4 ranked team twice. This led to SC's highest NCAA seed ever, before or since, as #2 in the Midwest Region behind #1 seed Kansas. SC would play the first two rounds at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. The round one game against 15 seed Louisiana Monroe was a blow out, with SC up 13 at half, and winning by 30. Next up was #7 seed Georgia Tech, and it was a game SC had won, until one of the most famous/infamous shots in NCAAT history.
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