Basketball Debuts on Television: Today in Sports History

On February 28th, 1940, the first ever basketball game was televised by NBC on W2XBS from Madison Square Garden. The college basketball doubleheader featured Pitt vs. Fordham as the opener and #1 ranked NYU vs. Georgetown playing in the second game. Pitt took home the win 57-37 over the Rams, with Eddie Stralowski, Mel Port, and John Scherer all scoring double-digit points. The Panthers went on to lose to both Penn State and West Virginia to finish 8-9 on the season. Stralowski lead all scorers with 9.5 points per game. Fordham finished their season after their loss with a final record of 11-8, respectively.