Watch: Shaquille O'Neal drops a 26 point triple-double for LSU in March Madness, on this day 30 years ago
During his time at LSU, Shaquille O'Neal was one of the most dominant players in college basketball.
30 years ago today, his dominance was on full display during March Madness. Shaq led his LSU Tigers to a first-round win against the BYU Cougars while earning a triple-double.
Shaquille O'Neal spent three years at LSU, where he averaged a double-double, and the Tigers made the NCAA tournament in all three seasons.
While the LSU Tigers may not have exceeded expectations in their tournament appearances during Shaq's tenure, he put up multiple impressive performances. Arguably, his best occurred 30 years ago.
The LSU Tigers went into the 1992 NCAA tournament as the seventh seed in their region and drew a matchup with the tenth-seeded BYU Cougars in the first round.
Shaq would go on to have one of the most impressive performances of his career and in the history of March Madness.
@LSUBasketball30 years ago today, @SHAQ put up a triple-double in #MarchMadness
26 pts | 13 reb | 11 blocks
A force to be reckoned with 🔥 @LSUBasketball https://t.co/DntKyk5ZgP
The performance was awe-inspiring in the context of it being the first triple-double with blocks in the history of the NCAA tournament.
Today, it remains one of only two triple-doubles with blocks in NCAA tournament history. It also stands as the second-most points in an NCAA tournament game behind his Miami Heat teammate Dwyane Wade.
Unfortunately for Shaquille O'Neal, the performance would be his last triple-double and his final win at LSU. The Tigers would go on to lose in the second round against the Indiana Hoosiers.
Shaquille O'Neal would then declare for the NBA Draft and ended his LSU career.
Shaquille O'Neal's LSU Tigers in 2022 March Madness
Thirty years after Shaq's triple-double in March Madness, the LSU Tigers were once again in the NCAA tournament. This time, however, the team featured O'Neal's son Shareef O'Neal on the roster.
The 2022 Tigers made the tournament as the sixth-seed in their bracket and faced the eleventh-seeded Iowa State Hawkeyes.
Once again, the Tigers and the O'Neal family found themselves on the wrong side of history as they fell to the Iowa State Hawkeyes in the first round in 2022.
As one of the school's most famous basketball alumni and the father of a current player, Shaq took the brunt of a few jokes from Twitter.
Shaq watching those final five minutes 😕
#MarchMadness https://t.co/aNOPubyrhG
While the 1992 and 2022 NCAA tournaments may not have ended ideally for Shaquille O'Neal, his performance in 1992 is still worth remembering.
The LSU Tigers now look to the 2022-2023 season. They will be hoping that O'Neal's son Shareef O'Neal will take on a more prominent role under his new head basketball coach Kevin Nickelberry.