Pistol Pete Maravich's Career Scoring Record Could Fall To Detroit Mercy Player Tonight

Pistol Pete Maravich's iconic, career NCAA basketball scoring record of 3,667 points may fall Thursday night at a 6,300-seat arena in Youngstown, Ohio, in the very off Broadway Horizon League Tournament. Somehow, that's just not right.

Maravich, a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame since 1987 and the NBA's top 50 team, scored his final 77 points in his college at LSU over three games in 1970 in New York City. That was in the National Invitation Tournament, which at the time was as prestigious as the NCAA Tournament. Marquette coach Al McGuire turned down the "Big Dance" that season to play in the NIT.

PETE MARAVICH'S CAREER SCORING RECORD IN DANGER

Pete Maravich averaged an NCAA record 44.2 points a game in 83 games from 1967-70 at LSU. No one else has averaged within 10 points of that in a season or career since. (Photo by Rich Clarkson/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

Pete Maravich Finished His College Career At The Garden

The Pistol played his last three games in Manhattan at 19,000-seat Madison Square Garden, home of the New York Knicks' first NBA title later that spring in '70 and again in 1973. He scored 20 in his last college game - a 101-79 loss in the NIT semifinals to No. 8 Marquette, which beat St. John's for the NIT title. LSU finished 22-10 and 13-5 in the Southeastern Conference for second place to Kentucky, which entered the NCAA Tournament that year at No. 1 in the nation.

If Antoine Davis of Detroit Mercy (14-18), which is in eighth in the Horizon League at 9-11, scores 26 points at No. 1 seed Youngstown State (23-8, 15-5) Thursday (8 p.m., ESPN+) , he will have 3,668 points in his five-season career. Maravich scored 3,667 in three seasons over 83 games. Davis scored 38 in an 81-68 win over Purdue Fort Wayne in the Horizon League Tournament on Tuesday at home to get to 3,642 in his 183rd game.

Davis has played two more full seasons than Maravich, who played at a time when freshmen were not eligible.

Maravich averaged 42.8 points in 18 games on the LSU freshmen team in 1966-67 for 771 points. That would have put him at 4,438. Plus, the three-pointer was not around when Maravich played. Davis has hit 584 of those in his career.

Detroit Mercy guard Antoine Davis (0) can become the NCAA's all-time leading career scorer on Thursday night at Youngstown State if he scores 26 points, which would give him 3,668 over five seasons. Pete Maravich scored 3,667 in two less seasons at LSU from 1967-70. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon via Getty Images)

Antoine Davis Record Could Be Tainted, But No Asterisk

Davis got a fifth year this season because of the COVID-19 waiver in 2020 that gave student-athletes an extra year due to missed time. Davis still got in 30 games in the 2019-20 season, however. He has scored his points in 60 more games than Maravich. He has averaged 25.4 points in his career - nearly 20 less a game than the Pistol. Maravich's NCAA record of 44.2 a game will likely never be broken.

But a record is a record, according to the NCAA. There will be no asterisk next to Davis' career points record should he get it Thursday.

"We will not be placing asterisks in any of our record books for career records that are established," David Worlock, director of media coordination and statistics at the NCAA, told OutKick this week. "We have career scoring records that also indicate how many years it took players to achieve their scoring totals."

Will Pete The Penguin Help Pete Maravich?

Maravich, who passed away in 1988, does have a chance to keep his record through Thursday, though. The Youngstown State Penguins held Davis to just 15 points in a 73-63 win on Jan. 29 at Youngstown. The Beeghly Center at Youngstown has a great, loud atmosphere and can be tough on visitors. Plus, Youngstown's mascot is Pete the Penguin, who is expected to be pulling for Pistol Pete to keep his record.

A loss by Detroit Mercy to Youngstown State would likely end its season at 14-19, thus meaning Davis would not get another chance to break the record.

A win would put Detroit Mercy two wins away from the Horizon League Tournament title and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

"I just want to bring the fans home a conference championship, so they can go to the NCAA Tournament," Davis said after his game Tuesday. "Just want to thank everyone at Detroit - the students, the fans, just Detroit in general. I mean, I love Detroit so much."

Davis' coach is his dad, Mike Davis, a former Alabama player (1979-83) from Fayette, Alabama, and Final Four head coach at Indiana in 2002.

"I think he'll trade it all in for an NCAA Tournament bid," Davis said. "That tells you who he is. That's the thing for him - to get to the NCAA Tournament. That's his dream."

Two big dreams could be swishing soon.