Rating Arizona’s record-breaking performances in the Pac-10/12 era: Where does Carey stand?

Ka’Deem Carey was all smiles after his record-breaking performance against Colorado

Ka’Deem Carey’s Pac-12-record 366 rushing yards on 25 carries against Colorado begs the question: What is the most impressive record-breaking performance in a Pac-10/12 game by an Arizona athlete in football, men’s basketball and baseball?

As impressive as Carey was Saturday, he shredded a Colorado defense that entered the game ranked last in the Pac-12 in rushing defense (allowing 204.2 yards a game).

Only two other athletes — both in basketball — hold conference records by their lonesome like Carey, who broke Washington State’s Rueben Mayes’ previous record of 357 yards set against Oregon in 1984.

Russell Brown is atop the league with 19 assists against Grand Canyon on Dec. 8, 1979. Loren Woods tops everybody in blocked shots with 14 against Oregon on Feb. 3, 2000.

Grand Canyon was classified in the NAIA at that time. Oregon was a decent team which was selected to the NCAA tournament with a 22-8 record.

Chuck Cecil is tied with eight others in most interceptions (four) in a game, which he achieved against Stanford in 1987. Alan Zinter is tied with two others for most triples (three), which he tallied against Cal in 1987.

Arizona’s players have produced a Pac-12-best nine triple-doubles, led by Andre Iguodala, who had three of them. Cal is next with five.

Joe Magrane is the only UA pitcher in Pac-10/12 history to pitch a no-hitter

Thirteen Wildcats have hit for the cycle out of 32 conference players overall. The last to achieve this feat was Bill Rhinehart, who did it twice in 2007 against Washington and New Orleans.

Joe Magrane is one of 39 conference starting pitchers who have thrown a no-hitter. He blanked Cal State Fullerton in 1984.

My top five:

1. Magrane — A no-hitter against a good college baseball program that used aluminum bats.
2. Zinter — Three triples for a catcher? A center fielder doing it would be amazing, but a catcher?
3. Woods — Three blocked shots in a game is considered above the norm. He quadrupled that and then some.
4. Cecil — Four interceptions in a game showed Cecil’s propensity to always be around the ball.
5. Carey — Yes, the record came against lowly Colorado but he shattered the previous high mark in a Pac-10/12 game by an Arizona player. That was Trung Canidate’s 288 yards in 1998 against ASU.

Brown does not crack the Top Five because Grand Canyon was not a program at the same level of Arizona. No other assist man in UA hoops comes close to Brown, however. Out of the UA’s top 15 assist games in the program’s history, Brown has nine of them.

Carey’s performance against Colorado also included a school-record five rushing touchdowns. His 400 total yards eclipsed the previous school record of 359 held by the “Cactus Comet” Art Luppino, set in 1954 against New Mexico State.

His legendary performance calls to mind the afternoon Sean Elliott broke Lew Alcindor’s career scoring record in the Pac-10 in 1989. Elliott and Carey are Tucson high school products — Elliott from Cholla and Carey from Canyon del Oro.

The top individual performance in a game regardless if a record was broken? That’s for another blog. But it’s hard to argue against Damon Stoudamire’s performance at Washington State in 1995. Who can forget his 40 points in the double-overtime thriller won by Arizona 114-111?

Site publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner

[rps-paypal]