10 lowest-scoring college basketball games of all time ft. Temple vs. Tennessee and more
College basketball isn't always about high scores. Defense is a key component, and in the old days, so was stalling.
Before the introduction of the shot clock in 1985-86, many college basketball teams thought that their best chance was to wait, wait and wait.
For many of these games, there's very little available information, but here's a thumbnail sketch of the history of slowdown. These games, all played since 1944, amounted to stall ball.
One team, maybe hopelessly overmatched, maybe cantankerous, decided to hold the basketball, except for one story, which is where we start.
Ten lowest-scoring college basketball games of all time
#10 Monmouth 41-21 Princeton (Dec. 14, 2005)
There's a little explaining here. This is not one of the lowest scoring games ever, as the rest of this list will show.
However, it's the lowest scoring game under modern rules-- with the shot clock, the 3-point shot and other non-stall innovations. So in the strictest sense of the word, this is just the lowest scoring modern college basketball game.
A Monmouth team that would finish 19-16 and make the NCAA Tournament faced a Princeton team that would finish 12-15. What happened?
The box score isn't even clear. Monmouth shot decently, 16-for-39 (41%) overall, and 6-for-12 from the 3-point range. Princeton did not, though, going 9-for-41 overall (22%) bundled with 19 turnovers making for a futile game.
The biggest culprit may have been officiating. The two teams combined to shoot just eight free throws, making four. But Monmouth gradually extended its 21-11 halftime edge to a 41-21 victory in an all-time snoozefest.
# Kentucky 24-11 Cincinnati (Dec. 20, 1983)
An outmatched Cincinnati team facing a Kentucky team that would reach the Final Four decided to stall.
This snoozer helped prompt college basketball's major programs (like Kentucky) to get behind the shot clock. Kentucky led 11-7 at halftime.
#8 Oregon State 18-16 Stanford (Jan. 28, 1980)
This was presumably the result of a 7-19 Stanford team deciding to stall against a tough Oregon State team. Oregon State would go 26-4 and reach the NCAA Tournament, and Stanford didn't get an upset.
#T6 Charleston 18-15 Charleston Southern (Feb. 6, 1980)
Charleston Southern was in the midst of a 2-23 season. Again, their despiration didn't seem to work.
#T6 Penn State 24-9 Pittsburgh (Mar. 1, 1952)
An NCAA Tournament-bound Penn State team (20-6) had a late season game with a bound-for-nowhere Pitt team (10-12).
This is the most one-sided of these stall ball games, and it didn't go very well for Pitt.
#5 Oklahoma State 17-15 Arkansas (Jan. 28, 1944)
Poor Coach Henry Iba is the subject of two games on this list, played within less than a month of each other. It could be worse because at least it wasn't the same team stalling.
#4 Penn State 15-12 Pittsburgh (Jan. 15, 1944)
Penn State and Pittsburgh have a special place in stall ball memory.
This one seems particularly odd, as Penn State finished 8-7 while Pittsburgh went 7-7. Maybe both teams decided that a stall ball game suited their situations.
#3 Oklahoma State 14-11 Oklahoma (Feb. 19, 1944)
As Oklahoma State's 1943-44 team is the only one to appear on this list twice, it stands to reason that they liked to stall.
Or maybe the 27-6 Cowboys faced several scared teams and fended them off.
#2 NC State 12-10 Duke (Mar. 8, 1968)
This was an ACC Tournament game, and the unranked, underdog Wolfpack of NC State went to the stall to take down No. 6 Duke.
Unorthodox? Yes. But in that college basketball era, the loss knocked Duke out of the NCAA Tournament. State was rewarded with an 87-50 loss to North Carolina in the ACC Finals.
#1 Tennessee 11-6 Temple (Dec. 15, 1973)
An outmatched Temple team played future Boston Celtic Ernie Grunfeld and Tennessee slow.
However, with a 7-5 deficit about eight minutes into the game, Temple went to a deep freeze, holding the ball for almost 12 minutes.
Aside from a free throw for a technical against Temple for delaying the game on an in-bounds play, the score remained steady until just over three minutes remained.
Trailing 8-5, Temple made its effort at victory, but they came up short. In retrospect, the stall seems odd. Were the 17-9 Vols that dangerous to a 16-9 Temple team? In any case, they made college basketball history.