Records are made to be broken, but it could be a while until anyone touches the record for most points scored in an NCAA Tournament game.
While some of the greatest players of all time have competed under the bright lights of March Madness, only one has ever cracked 60 points on college basketball’s biggest stage — and it was over 50 years ago.
50-point games have also been hard to come by, the most recent coming in 1987.
Who tops the leaderboard for most points scored in March Madness? Here’s everything you need to know about the tournament’s best individual performances.
Most points in a March Madness game
The record for most points scored in an NCAA Tournament game is owned by Notre Dame’s Austin Carr, who dropped 61 points in a win over Ohio on March 7, 1970. Carr shot 25-for-44 from the field, giving him two more records — the most field goals made and attempted in a tournament game.
Carr also had a 52-point game in the 1970 NCAA Tournament. He followed it up with a 52-point game in 1971.
Carr is one of only four players who have ever scored 50 or more points in the NCAA Tournament, the others being Princeton’s Bill Bradley (58), Cincinnati’s Oscar Robertson (56), and Navy’s David Robinson (50).
Houston’s Elvin Hayes came close to the 50-point mark in 1968 with a 49-point game.
Here are the 10 highest-scoring games in March Madness history:
| Rank | Player | Points | Year |
| 1. | Austin Carr | 61 | 1970 |
| 2. | Bill Bradley | 58 | 1965 |
| 3. | Oscar Robertson | 56 | 1958 |
| 4. | Austin Carr | 52 | 1971 |
| 5. | Austin Carr | 52 | 1970 |
| 6. | David Robinson | 50 | 1987 |
| 7. | Elvin Hayes | 49 | 1968 |
| 8. | Hal Lear | 48 | 1956 |
| 9. | Austin Carr | 47 | 1971 |
| 10. | David Corzine | 46 | 1978 |
Carr’s run in 1970 lasted three games. The 52.7 points he averaged in those games is the most ever.
Carr averaged 41.7 points per game in the 1971 NCAA Tournament, which is the second-highest point-per-game average.
Purdue’s Carsen Edwards had an explosive tournament in 2019 with an average of 34.8 points over four games. That’s tied for the ninth-highest scoring average in an NCAA Tournament run.
