February 28
From Hoopedia
- 1922 - North Carolina downs Mercer, 40-26, to win the inaugural Southern Conference tournament championship. It is the first college conference basketball tournament.
- 1931 - Hall of Fame coach Dean Smith (right), winner of 879 games at the University of North Carolina, is born in Emporia, Kansas.
- 1940 - W2XBS telecasts the Fordham Rams - Pitt Panthers game to several hundred New York homes. It is the first basketball game ever televised. Only one camera is used and technical problems cause a 20-minute blackout. Pitt prevails, 50-37, in the contest held at Madison Square Garden.
- 1956 - Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Utah Jazz star Adrian Dantley is born in Hyattsville, Maryland.
- 1965 - Center Nate Thurmond of the San Francisco Warriors pulls down an NBA-record 18 rebounds in one quarter against the Baltimore Bullets.
- 1967 - Wilt Chamberlain misses his first field goal in four games to end his NBA record shooting streak of 35 consecutive field goals, during Philadelphia’s 127-107 victory over Cincinnati at Syracuse.
- 1981 - Houston's Calvin Murphy makes the last of his 78 consecutive free throws, in a game against San Diego, setting what was then an NBA record.
- 2003 - Patrick Ewing, New York Knicks legend, and the first ever NBA lottery draft pick, watches as his jersey number 33 is retired before a cheering crowd at Madison Square Garden.
