ON THIS DAY IN UK HISTORY
March 19, 2005 | your #7 University of Kentucky Wildcats came back from a two point halftime deficit to outlast #23 Cincinnati, 69-60, in front of over 40,000 fans in Indianapolis. The second round NCAA matchup between the Bearcats and Wildcats was the first time in 14+ years the two schools had met on the hardwood, but the outcome was the same as always, a Wildcat win. The win was the 15th straight in a series that dates back to 1904; Cincinnati’s last win versus Big Blue was in 1939. Read More…
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March 18, 1978 | your top-ranked University of Kentucky Wildcats narrowly got passed Earvin “Magic” Johnson and the Michigan State Spartans, 52-49, in the Elite Eight to advance Joe. B Hall & Company to a Final Four matchup with Arkansas. Kyle Macy and his tube socks led the way for Kentucky on the day, finishing with 18 points, including 10-11 from the charity stripe. The story of the day, though, was the ineffectiveness of superstar Magic Johnson, who battled foul trouble most of the day, and ended the game 11 points under his season average. Read More…
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March 17, 2009 | your unranked University of Kentucky Wildcats got past UNLV in the first round of the NIT, 70-60, in what was a very memorable night. It was the first time in 33 years that Kentucky had played a game in Memorial Coliseum, coincidentally, it was best game atmosphere in a long time. Most of the people in attendance did this weird thing where they stood most of the game and banged their hands together, confusing the average Rupp Arena crowd. Read More…
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March 16, 2002 | your #16 University of Kentucky Wildcats squeaked past a game Tulsa squad, 87-82, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament behind another one of those game’s from All-American Tayshaun Prince. He was unconscious, hitting on 14-21 shots from the floor, including 6-8 from 3 point range. Prince ended that Saturday with a career-high 41 points – 9 rebounds – 4 assists – 3 blocks – 0 turnovers. Read More…
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March 15, 1992 | your #9 University of Kentucky Wildcats won their first SEC Tournament since being put on probation with a destruction of #17 Alabama in Birmingham. The Tide actually put up a fight against the Cats in the first half, taking a 32-39 lead into the break. Master motivator Rick Pitino got the guys in gear for the second frame, outscoring Alabama 51-22 by forcing turnover after turnover. The trio of Robert Horry, James Robinson, and Latrell Sprewell had 16 turnovers by themselves, as the Elephants self-destructed when it mattered most. Read More…
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March 14, 1989 | Buster and Tywanna Patterson of Huntsville, West Virginia, gave birth to (I’m guessing) an enormous kid and named him Patrick. Their son would grow exponentially and become quite the basketball player. In 2007, Pat would named to the exclusive McDonald’s All-American team. Luckily for everyone in Lexington, he chose a school over a coach, and committed to your University of Kentucky. Patterson is single-handedly responsible for exploding the blogosphere around Kentucky basketball, as his college choice was followed closely by two big time programs, Kentucky and Florida. Read More…
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March 13, 1992 | your #9 University of Kentucky Wildcats defeated Vanderbilt, 76-57, in their first postseason action in three years. The SEC Tournament was held in Birmingham, Alabama, and Big Blue Nation came out in full force. It was a nice way to cap things off for one of the most beloved senior classes in program history. Read More…
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March 12, 1995 | your #3 University of Kentucky Wildcats squeaked past arch-nemesis #5 Arkansas, 95-93, in overtime to win the SEC Tournament in Atlanta. The 1990s as a whole provided some of the most exciting basketball in the history of the SEC as these two teams were guaranteed to put on a show when they matched up together. Nolan Richardson’s squad took the earlier meeting, 94-92, in Fayetteville, but the SEC Tournament provided a “neutral” site for the second meeting.
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March 11, 2001 | your #15 University of Kentucky Wildcats beat the Ole Miss Jar Jar Binx, 77-55, to win the SEC Tournament, their eighth in the past ten years. Tubby’s squad jumped out early in Nashville and took a 36-19 lead into the break. At that point, the game was decided, and the Cats went on to take what was beginning to look like the Kentucky Invitational.
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March 10, 1984 | your #3 University of Kentucky Wildcats needed a game winner by Kenny “Sky” Walker as time expired to beat Auburn in the SEC Championship game, 51-49. The game was a freak show of talent, putting five of the nation’s premier college basketball players on display at Vanderbilt Memorial Gym in Nashville. Kentucky’s Sam Bowie, Melvin Turpin, and Kenny Walker dominated the inside for UK, while Charles Barkley and Chuck Person controlled the middle for the Tigers. Read More…
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March 9, 1996 | your top-ranked University of Kentucky Wildcats gave Nolan Richardson the beatdown he deserved with a 95-75 thrashing of the Arkansas Razorbacks in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. The Hogs seemed to be a shell of their former selves, as the “40 Minutes of Hell” is just what they got from arguably the best college basketball team ever. Antoine Walker shimmied his way to 21 points – 14 rebounds – 5 assists – 2 steals, giving him player of the game honors. Read More…
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March 8, 1998 | your #7 University of Kentucky Wildcats absolutely destroyed #15 South Carolina, 86-56, to take their sixth SEC Tournament Championship in seven years, and their 21st overall SEC Tournament Championship. The most impressive part of the beating was that Kentucky didn’t have the services of Jeff Sheppard due to an ankle injury, and Nazr Mohammed was less than 100% with a separated shoulder. Read More…
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March
7, 1992 | your #10 University of Kentucky Wildcats honored the most compelling group of seniors ever as The Unforgettables walked onto the Rupp Arena floor one last time. The quartet of Deron Feldhaus, Sean Woods, John Pelphrey, and Richie Farmer changed the culture of a basketball powerhouse that had buried itself in NCAA sanctions into (ultimately) one of the most talked about teams in the country. Make no mistake, though, as the most dominant player on the floor was super sophomore Jamal Mashburn, who had 30 points in the 99-88 shootout win over Allan Houston and Tennessee. Read More…
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March 6, 1998 | your #7 University of Kentucky Wildcats started their postseason march by taking out future Kentucky assistant David Hobbs and Alabama in the SEC Tournament 81-72. After a close first half, Big Blue steadily pulled away in the second stanza even without a suspended Jamaal Magloire. Tubby Smith suspended the big man for a violation of team rules and didn’t even notify the team that he wouldn’t be playing until halftime. Read More…
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March 5, 2003 | your #2 University of Kentucky Wildcats beat up Vanderbilt, 106-44, to move to 15-0 in conference play and put themselves in a position that only the 1996 Cats had ever been in, going undefeated in all 16 conference games. All 15 players saw at least four minutes of court time in a game that saw only two players play over 20 minutes (Seniors Marquis Estill and Keith Bogans). The first half was the setup, outscoring the Commies 48-29. Read More...
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March 4, 2009 | is a very memorable day, because it was the last time Billy Clyde Gillispie ever step foot in Rupp Arena as the head coach of our beloved Kentucky Wildcats. What happened you ask? He lost to possibly the worst SEC squad that had come in there in a long time, the 2-13 Georgia Bulldogs, led by head coach Pete Hermann! Obviously the best experience of his life. The team was reeling already and with the loss, needed to win an SEC Tournament to get an NCAA bid. Michael Porter had the game of his life going 5-8 from deep and finishing with 15 points to keep it close, but Georgia’s Terrance Woodbury dropped 30 points to send poor Jared Carter packing on Senior Night. Read More…
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March 3, 1984 | your #3 University of Kentucky Wildcats sent a fine group of senior’s away by throttling the Ole Miss Jar Jar Binx, 90-68, in front of a sellout crowd at Rupp Arena. The senior’s were: Tom Heitz, Dicky Beal, Jim Master, Melvin Turpin, and Sam Bowie. Big Blue was led on the day by Sam Bowie, who was an efficient 5-6 from the field and 10-11 from the foul line, and finished with 20 points and 16 rebounds. Big Mel finished the game with 19 points and five rebounds as Joe B. Hall’s Cats shot 58% from the field. Read More…
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March 2, 1996 | your top-ranked University of Kentucky Wildcats beat Vanderbilt, 101-63, to become the first team ever to go an undefeated 16-0 in SEC conference play. The win was the 25th straight for Rick Pitino and moved #1 UK to 26-1 on the season. The leader that Senior Night was none other than Super Senior Tony Delk, who efficiently went 10-16 from the field, 3-4 from behind the arc, and finished his final game at Rupp with 23 points in just 27 minutes. Read More….
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March 1, 1921 |
your “dark horse” University of Kentucky Wildcats upset the Georgia Bulldogs to become the first ever Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) champions. The Champion Basketeers played “basket ball” like a machine and became one of the most heralded teams in all the South. It is believed to have been the first major basketball tournament in collegiate basketball history. The captain of the 1921 team, Basil Hayden, was the key cog during Kentucky’s first ever tournament run. Basil Hayden has his jersey hanging in Rupp’s Rafters. Read More…
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February 28, 1970 | your top-ranked University of Kentucky Wildcats outlasted a game Vanderbilt Commodore team, 90-86, in front of a sellout crowd at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington. The story of the game, though, was Kentucky All-American Dan Issel (31 points – 15 rebounds) crossed a barrier no other Wildcat had ever crossed. The Batavia, Illinois-native became the first player to score 2,000 points in the storied program’s history. Issel caught and blew past the top scorers on the career list halfway through his senior season and put enough distance between second place to let everyone know he planned on staying there a few years. Read More…
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February 27, 1956 | your #8 University of Kentucky Wildcats throttled the Georgia Bulldogs, 143-66, for the largest margin of victory in the basketball program’s history. The game was played at Louisville’s Jefferson County Armory, because even in the 50’s there were more UK fans than Card fans in Louisville. By halftime, the game had been decided, as Adolph Rupp’s squad had built a 75-32 lead. The Cats made an absurd 60 field goals on the day, more than double that of the visiting Bulldogs. Of the 14 players seeing court action, 13 of them had at least two field goals. Read More…
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February 26, 2005 | your fifth-ranked University of Kentucky Wildcats stormed back from a 36-29 halftime deficit at #16 Alabama via the smoking hot shooting of Patrick “Booger” Sparks. The Western Kentucky transfer could do no wrong in the second stanza as he hit five three pointers (7-10 overall) to help Kentucky outscored Bama 49-35 after the break to win going away. Sparks ended the game with a season high 26 points, and the Cats as a team were a blistering 13-19 from behind the arc on the afternoon. One of the other highlights of the comeback was a Sparks’ assist on a fast break to the trailing Woo for a dunk I’m not even for sure Woo thought he had in him. It was a tomahawk slam from halfway down the lane that helped Big Blue Nation forget about the grenades he usually threw towards the backboard. Read More…
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