- Wednesday, December 29 1937 -
Sugar Bowl Championship (at New Orleans, LA)
Kentucky - 40 (Head Coach: Adolph Rupp) - [Final Rank ]
| Player | FG | FT | FTA | PF | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fred Curtis | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 10 |
| Joseph Hagan | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Homer Thompson | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
| Bernard Opper | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
| Layton Rouse | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Marion Cluggish | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Rice Walker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| James Goodman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ralph Jackowski | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 17 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 40 |
Pittsburgh - 29 (Head Coach: Harold Carlson)
| Player | FG | FT | FTA | PF | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miles Zeleznik | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Edward Lowry | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Garcia | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 9 |
| Michael Radvansky | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| Charles Wolberg | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Robert Johnson | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 9 |
| John Schrerer | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ed Spotovich | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| R.W. Johnson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jack Scott | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 12 | 5 | 11 | 10 | 29 |
| Prior Game | | | Next Game |
| Centenary 35 - 25 | | | Michigan State 38 - 43 |
Kentucky Stuns Pittsburgh in Sugar Bowl Battle
NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 29, 1937 -- A fast and straight shooting Kentucky basketball team that exhibited an air-tight defense defeated Pittsburgh, 40-29, in the 4th annual Sugar Bowl basketball game here tonight.
Kentucky started fast and at the half led Pittsburgh, 28-13, mainly because of close defensive work, but shortly after the start of the 2nd half, Pittsburgh, led by Edward Spotovich and Robert Johnson, brought the score up to 31-29, and it seemed for a moment as though they would overtake the Kentuckians.
Joe Hagan, the Kentucky forward, then stepped into the picture, and started tossing them in from all angles to increase his team's lead to a safe margin.
Pittsburgh led only once during the game, and that was immediately after it dropped in the first field goal. Kentucky came right back, and ran the score up to 10-2 before the Easterners could tally again.
Pittsburgh frequently worked the ball past midcourt in the first half but found their clockwise and counterclockwise attack effectively bottled up, principally by a never-tiring dynamo, Bernie Opper, at guard.
The night's high scorer was Homer Thompson, the Kentucky center. His teammate, Fred Curtis, posted 10 points. Hagan, of Kentucky, and Robert Johnson and Joe Garcia, both of Pitt, got 9 each.
Pittsburgh played in the Sugar Bowl game several years ago but Kentucky had never appeared in the game before. The teams met only once before, at Lexington, Ky., in 1935, when Kentucky won, 35-17.
Kentucky was presented the Sugar Bowl Trophy and Hagan, the Kentucky forward who led his team in the spirited 2nd-half rally, was given the basketball used for the game. The individual players got medals.
