Scoring 70 becomes footnote
Poor David Larson.
The Faith Baptist Bible College (Iowa) hoopster might have posted the least memorable 70-point game in basketball history.
His offensive outburst, in which he made 34 of 44 shots from the field, likely would have made national headlines had he not accomplished the feat in the same game in which the opposition's top scorer put up 138 points.
Larson racked up the biggest game of his career during a 179-104 loss to Grinnell College (Iowa), which got 138 from the now-famous-for-a-week Jack Taylor on Tuesday night.
Taylor, a sophomore transfer from Wisconsin-La Crosse, knocked down 27 of 71 3-point attempts and 52 of 108 from the field in all. He also made 7 of 10 free throws.
Taylor totaled 190 points in 27 games off the bench for La Crosse last season. On the year, he attempted a team-high 99 3-pointers. Only one of his teammates on that team attempted more than the 71 Taylor chucked up on Tuesday.
Taylor got all kinds of love from NBA locker rooms and from players around the league on their Twitter accounts. But at least one NBA player took note of Larson's efforts.
Phoenix point guard Kendall Marshall credited Larson for his efficiency, calling his performance, "WAY more impressive!"
One of the more entertaining responses on Twitter came from former Sacramento King Donte Greene, who imagined a conversation between Larson and his hypothetical girlfriend.
"GIRL: how u do babe? BOY: had 70 but we lost GIRL: aw sorry wat happen? BOY: dude had 138 on da other team!!"
Other players couldn't get over Taylor's stat line.
USA Today compiled reactions from several NBA stars, including Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, who knows a thing or two about chucking up shots.
"That's crazy. I don't care what level you're at, you score 138 points it's pretty insane," Bryant said, before working in a plug for his signature shoe line. "He must have been wearing the Mambas, man. Only Mambas have no conscience to shoot the ball that much."
Sacramento center DeMarcus Cousins took to Twitter to ponder who was supposed to be guarding Taylor, as if Cousins has ever grasped the concept of fundamental defense.
Retired forward Donyell Marshall and current New York Knicks guard Raymond Felton tweeted advice to Taylor about not forgetting to ice his arm after hoisting that many shots.
Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony vowed to use Taylor's performance as a response to critics in the future.
According to The Associated Press, Anthony joked that "from now on when someone asks if he's taking too many shots, he'll mention that 'someone shot it 108 times.' "
Perhaps the most amazing stat Taylor posted on Tuesday was that despite how often he had the ball, he avoided recording a single assist. Not even by accident. In fact, the rest of his team combined to attempt just 28 shots.
Just wait until Kobe hears those numbers.
■ AGAINST ALL ODDS - The Carolina Panthers had to know what was coming when overtime began on Sunday.
The Panthers had lost all 10 coin tosses to start games this season. That streak moved to 11 when the Buccaneers won the toss in OT and went straight down the field for the winning touchdown.
The odds of losing 11 straight coin tosses are 2,048-1, or roughly the equivalent of Carolina making the playoffs over the next five years.
COMPILED BY ADAM HILL
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
