Template:February 28
From Hoopedia
- 1908 - Sharpshooter Chuck Hyatt, a member of the inaugural class of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, is born in Syracuse, New York. He starred at the University of Pittsburgh and played on three AAU Championship teams.
- 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.
