Evansville’s Haffner Surprises Himself by Scoring 65 Points

The points kept piling up, too fast and too many for Scott Haffner to count.

“I really didn’t know how many I had until fairly late in the game,” he said. “A Dayton player was at the free throw line . . .I just happened to glance into the crowd. One of the fans held up five fingers on one hand and one on the other.”

Haffner finished with 65 points--tied for the sixth-most in a Division I game--as he led Evansville over Dayton, 109-83, Saturday. His total was the highest in a Division I game in 12 years.

Haffner made 23 of 29 shots from the field, including 11 of 13 three-pointers. He was 8 for 8 from the foul line.

“You just get into a groove where everything feels like it’s going to go in, and that’s what happened,” Haffner said.

Haffner, a 6-foot 4-inch senior guard, left with 1:30 remaining in the game. He came close to the late Pete Maravich’s record of 69 points against a Division I opponent, set by the LSU star against Alabama in 1970.

Frank Selvy of Furman scored an all-time record 100 points against Newberry on Feb. 13, 1954.

Haffner was averaging 22 points a game and 54% shooting from the field. He started quickly against Dayton (11-12 overall, 6-4 in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference), scoring 14 in the first six minutes. He had 30 in the first half, including a jump shot at the buzzer that put Evansville ahead, 54-35.

Haffner scored 35 more in the second half, leading Evansville to its 33rd straight home win. The Purple Aces (20-3) clinched at least a tie for the MCC title at 8-1.

“That was the greatest offensive performance I’ve ever seen,” Evansville Coach Jim Crews said. “I saw Bill Walton hit 21 of 22 shots, but those were chip shots compared to what Scott was shooting. He cut well all day. He used the screens that his teammates set. He was unbelievable.”

Haffner broke the school record of 48 points set by Larry Humes against Ball State in 1965 and the MCC mark of 54 by Butler’s Darrin Fitzgerald against Detroit in 1987.