Canadian basketball star Karl Michael Tilleman's feats have earned him the title of “the best three-point shooter in the world.” One of his most incredible displays of three-point shot mastery was when he set a record in a game against Montana State.
In 1986 on the Montana State Bobcats’ home court, Karl Tilleman scored 50 points in a single game. In doing so, he set the record for the most points ever scored in Montana State’s Worthington Arena in one game.
This game still stands out as an example of amazing three-pointer prowess, and the record holds today. Below, is a deeper dive into the night Karl Tilleman shot the lights out at Montana State University.
About Karl Tilleman
Born in 1960, Karl Tilleman is an expert at free-throws and three-point shots. He attended the University of Calgary from 1979 -1984. Playing for Calgary he set a U.S. and Canadian college record, nailing 98% of his free throws in league play in 1983. He was named the school’s “Athlete of the Year” twice, in 1981 and 1983. In addition, Tilleman was selected as the City of Calgary’s most valuable athlete in 1983. His jersey, #32, is now retired and hangs over the Dino’s home court with a place of honor for the team.
The Denver Nuggets of the NBA drafted Tilleman in 1984, making him the only player from Calgary to have such a distinction. He and his Canadian teammates won the men’s basketball gold medal at the World Student Games in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, beating the United States, led by future NBA superstars such as Karl Malone and Charles Barkley, in the semi-finals.
Later that summer, Canada again played the U.S. in Venezuela in the Pan American Games – and Tilleman scored a team-high 28 points even though Michael Jordan guarded him toe-to-toe all game in Jordan’s First Dance at the Pan American Games.
The 1984 Olympics saw Karl again play extremely well for Canada. The Canadian television commentators repeatedly stated that Tilleman was likely scoring more points per minutes played than any other basketball player in the Olympics. Canada nearly won the bronze medal against Yugoslavia, where Canada had pulled to within one point with one minute left in the game. Tilleman was Canada’s second leading scorer in the bronze medal game where he hit deep shots from all over the court, even before the three-point line was implemented for Olympic basketball. Again, in the 1983 Western Invitational Tournament in Lewiston, Montana where multiple high-caliber US college players showed off their talents for the many NBA scouts at the tournament, Tilleman’s average score was a stunning 41.25 points per game. The tournament was three decades old at that point, yet his numbers still set a record.
Calgary vs Montana State University
In 1986, the Montana State University Bobcats stood undefeated at home that season. When it came time for the game, Karl Tilleman was already going strong. The week prior, he’d scored 32 points against Northern Montana, setting him up for positive momentum from the moment the game began.
That day, he would face off against the Bobcats on their home court.
As the game pressed onward, he began to rack up points for his free-throws. Upon having the ball passed to him, he would go right for the basket, ‘blistering the nets’ with how effortlessly he made his shots.
At one point, he made a three-point shot from 16 feet away. Whether he shot from the left corner or the right, the ball swept masterfully through the net.
He had the chance to tie the game hitting a three-point shot, and was fouled, making it a four-point play when he hit his free throw, placing the Dinos and the Bobcats at a tie.
His 38th point, then his 40th – points were piling up at an astonishing rate. At this point, the announcer tracked his totals as Karl played, tallying up just how many points he was accumulating.
The 50th Point
A player from Montana State attempted to make a shot from the free-throw line later in the game. The ball bounced in the net and out the same way it came, dodging the five point lead the Bobcats were aiming for.
With 35 seconds on the clock to make the rebound, Calgary dribbled the ball across the court and passed it to Tilleman. This, of course, would be the right choice to make.
“And Tilleman,” noted the announcer after Karl
landed that record breaking shot, “by [gosh] has 50 points.” In Worthington Arena, there’d never been another player to get 50 points all in one game. After the game, Montana State officials announced Tilleman’s record. The Montana State home crowd gave Tilleman, an opposing player, a standing ovation for his performance – an occurrence virtually unheard of in any sport.
Conclusion
Ironically, two-years later, Tilleman set the Olympic record for three-point shots in a single Olympic game when he again nailed 10 three-pointers against Spain, a powerhouse in men’s international basketball. Tilleman’s Olympic three-point record still stands, 35 years later.
Tilleman would go on to be inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 2008. His induction commemorates the records he set and the skill he showed in basketball. He played for and represented Canada proudly in both the 1984 Los Angeles and 1988 Seoul Olympics.
According to his Olympic Team Coach, Jack Donahue, Tilleman was “the best three-point shooter in the world” when he played for Canada. Though retired from competitive basketball, Tilleman still carries the legacy as one of the greatest three-point shooters ever to play the game.
