One down, 87 to go

On this day 36 years ago, the UCLA men's basketball team beat UC-Santa Barbara 74-61 at Pauley Pavilion. It was a notable win for the Bruins because for the first time in almost a year, they were coming off a loss, their nationally televised defeat to Notre Dame, where they were trampled by Austin Carr's 48-point extravanganza.

But in retrospect, this win over Santa Barbara was also notable because it would prove to be the first of many more to come, 87 more to be precise. The Bruins would not lose again until Digger Phelps and the Irish rolled into town on January 19, 1974 and again played the spoiler, ending the longest winning streak in college basketball history at 88 games.

Most people associate that streak with Bill Walton, and yet the 1970-71 team that started the streak had no big red Deadhead at center. This was the team that presided during the two years between the Walton and Alcindor eras. Forward Sidney Wicks (pictured right) was its star - the other four starters were Steve Patterson at center, Curtis Rowe at forward, and Henry Bibby and Terry Schofield at guards. This was the nucleus of a team that won two national championships, in 1970 and 1971.

Of course, come the '71-'72 campaign, there was a new group of sheriffs in town, a more familiar gang in UCLA history - Walton, Nater, Wilkes. Whereas the team before was exemplary in both skill and discipline, this team was frightening in its abundance of size and talent. Their closest game in their undefeated '71-'72 season was a six-point win over Oregon - their next closest was a fourteen-point win over Cal. In general, if they beat you by 20, you'd had yourself a good night out there.