Wednesday night fans saw a college basketball rarity -- a triple-double.
Though fairly common in the NBA, where the games are longer and the shot clock shorter, triple-doubles are rare in college basketball.
Center Nathan Boothe became the first player in the history of Toledo basketball and one of a handful of players in the 38 years of the Great Alaska Shootout to post a triple-double. The 6-foot-9 senior racked up 12 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in his team's 89-74 win over San Jose State.
It was the second triple-double in Division I basketball this season, according to ncaa.com.
At the 1994 Shootout, UAA's Dana Pope recorded 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 96-74 win over Jackson State. At the 1990 tournament, Marc Brown of Siena piled up 32 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 119-108 win over Cal-Irvine.
Shaquille O'Neal of Louisiana State (1989-92) and Michael Anderson of Drexel (1983-88) share the NCAA career record for triple-doubles with six apiece. Last season, BYU guard Kyle Collinsworth tied that record -- and set the NCAA single-season record -- with six triple-doubles as a sophomore, after scoring none as a freshman.
In the sometimes small world that is college basketball, the coach of one of this year's Shootout teams -- San Jose State coach Dave Wojcik -- is the only player to score a triple-double for Loyola College of Baltimore. In a 1989 game against St. Francis, Wojcik delivered 14 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists.
While Pope is the only UAA player to score a triple-double at the Shootout, two other men accomplished the feat in other games during their careers -- Jim Hajdukovich (25-11-10 assists in a 1999 game against Seattle Pacific) and Rick Stafford (15-11-10 in a 1996 game against Aquinas).
Four UAA women also boast triple-doubles -- Rebecca Kielpinski (17-13-10 against Saint Martin's in 2006), Tiffany Massey (10-10-13 against Saint Martin's in 2001), Allegra Stoetzel (32-11-10 in a 1995 win over Seattle Pacific) and Diane Dobrich (12-10-15 in a 1990 win over Denver).
HI, MOM!
A couple of moms from Chicago got a holiday treat Wednesday at the Alaska Airlines Center.
Loyola Chicago beat San Diego 67-57 in a game that included a crowd-pleasing alley-oop dunk. Loyola's Milton Doyle lobbed the high pass and Donte Ingram caught it above the rim for a little pre-Thanksgiving stuffing.
Cheering them on were both players' mothers, who traveled together from Chicago to Anchorage to watch their sons.
THE OLD SWITCHEROO
Transfers are everywhere in college basketball. Jeff Goodman's blog at espn.com has a list of more than 700 men who have transferred in the last year.
A pair of Shootout teams suffered huge losses during the offseason when players decided to switch schools.
Drexel lost Damion Lee, the nation's fifth-leading scorer last season (21.4 points per game), transfered to Louisville, and UNC Asheville lost Andrew Rowsey, who averaged 20.3 points as a sophomore last season, who moved to Marquette.
Lee has already obtained his degree from Drexel, so he's immediately eligible to play. Rowsey will have to sit out a year, an NCAA requirement for underclassmen who switch from one Division I team to another.
Players who transfer from one tier to another -- Division I to Division II, or vice versa -- are immediately eligible to play. As a result, Shootout fans this week got to see all three of UAA's Division I transfers -- Suki Wiggs (Idaho) for the men and Keiahnna Engel (Boise State) and Dominique Brooks (Penn State) for the women.
COACHING PEDIGREES
Some big-time college coaches left an imprint on this year's Shootout.
Head coach Porter Moser of Loyola Chicago worked as an associate coach for the late, great Rick Majerus at Saint Louis, Bruiser Flint of Drexel soaked up knowledge as an assistant to John Calipari at UMass and Dave Wojcik of San Jose State was an assistant to Lefty Driesell at James Madison.