Looney played on SU team that handed 1966 NCAA champion Texas Western its only defeat. He was 70.
Steve Looney, who was a three-year basketball starter at Seattle University and helped the team hand 1966 NCAA champion Texas Western its only defeat, died Sunday. He was 70.
A private memorial service will take place on Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Seattle Tennis Club at 922 McGilvra Blvd. E.
Looney played against Texas Western (now Texas-El Paso) five times in his career, including the 74-72 upset of the previously undefeated Miners on March 5, 1966. It was the only loss for the first team using an all-black starting lineup to claim an NCAA basketball championship.
A sophomore starter, Looney had 13 points against the Miners in that historic game. The Chieftains were 16-10 that season.
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He attended Roosevelt High and was an all-around athlete, playing football and baseball but once told the Post-Intelligencer, “Basketball was much more glamorous. Girls were looking at you.”
Looney averaged 11.6, 11.6 and 12.9 points per game in his Seattle U career.
“Steve was a two-sport athlete who was as good at baseball as he was basketball and was a key part of our basketball program’s success,” said Tom Workman, men’s basketball teammate and fellow SU Hall of Famer. “He was a great person, a great teammate and a great friend for 52 years. We will miss his ‘loon’-acy and his camaraderie.”
As a junior, he averaged 11.6 points per game as the team went 18-8 and advanced to the NCAA tournament. In Looney’s senior season, he averaged 12.9 points per game and led the team to a strong finish, winning nine of the final 10 games. He was inducted into the Seattle U Hall of Fame in 2013.
Golf
• Highlighted by a top-10 finish from junior Zach Anderson, the Washington State men’s team finished sixth at the Duck Invitational at Eugene Country Club.
The Cougars entered the day tied for seventh with Denver and moved one spot up the leaderboard to take sixth place. WSU shot 11-over on the day and finished with a three-round score of 878 (+26), four strokes ahead of Seattle University (30-over 882). Seattle U’s Joe Harvie tied for 18th at 4-over 217.
Host and No. 10 Oregon continued to dominate the tournament, shooting even par in the third round for a final score of 8-under (844. Pac-12 opponents Arizona (+10, 862) and Utah (+15, 867) took second and third, respectively. No. 29 San Diego State finished fourth (+17, 869), while Oregon State rounded out the top five (+20, 872).
• The Seattle U women are 13th after two rounds of the Anuenue Spring Break Classic in Kapalua, Hawaii. The Redhawks are at 63-over 639. UCLA leads at 4-under 572.
SU’s Dorsey Addicks is tied for 48th at 13-over 157.
Individually, UCLA’s Lilia Vu is running away from the rest of the field at 11-under 133 after a second-round 66. She leads by nine strokes.