Memorable Games
Brought to you by the University of Kentucky Basketball Museum. Information from the University of Kentucky Sports Information Department and the Museum. Links are to Jon Scott's UK Statistics Project.
| Kentucky vs. Georgia | Bill King's free throw with no time left on the clock lifted the Wildcats to the SIAA Championship. | |
| 3/1/1921 | W - (20 - 19) | |
| Cincinnati at Kentucky | James McFarland scored 10 points and the Wildcats defeated the Bearcats in the first game played at Alumni Gym. | |
| 12/13/1924 | W - (28 - 23) | |
| Georgetown College at Kentucky | The Wildcats pounded the Tigers in Adolph Rupp's debut as coach at Kentucky. | |
| 12/18/1930 | W - (67 - 19) | |
| Marquette at Kentucky | Joe Hagan's 48-foot shot with 12 seconds left lifted the Wildcats over the Warriors. After the game, Gov. Chandler pounded a nail into the floor to mark the spot. | |
| 2/14/1938 | W - (35 - 33) | |
| Kentucky vs. Notre Dame | Marvin Akers and Melvin Ticco combined for 33 points as the Wildcats beat the Fighting Irish for the first time in school history. | |
| 1/23/1943 | W - (60 - 55) | |
| Kentucky vs. Rhode Island | Ralph Beard's free throw with 40 seconds left lifted the Wildcats to their first national title in the NIT. | |
| 3/20/1946 | W - (46 - 45) | |
| Kentucky vs. Utah | Wat Misaka, a 5-8 center, held high-scoring Ralph Beard to two points and the Utes won the NIT championship. | |
| 3/24/1947 | L - (45 - 49) | |
| West Texas State at Kentucky | The Wildcats made the first game played in Memorial Coliseum a memorable one as they routed the Buffaloes. | |
| 12/1/1950 | W - (73 - 43) | |
| Temple at Kentucky | The longest game in UK history proved fruitful for the Wildcats as Vernon Hatton scored UK's final six pints to edge the Owls. | |
| 12/7/1957 | W - (85 - 83 3 OT) | |
| (#9) Kentucky vs. (#5) Temple | Vernon Hatton's layup with 17 seconds remaining pushed the Wildcats past the Owls and into the NCAA Championship game. | |
| 3/21/1958 | W - (61 - 60) | |
| (#1) Kentucky vs. (#3) Texas Western | Bobby Joe Hill scored 20 points and Texas Western upset the top-ranked Wildcats to win the NCAA title. | |
| 3/19/1966 | L - (65 - 72) | |
| Georgia at (#7) Kentucky | The Wildcats used an 18-2 burst midway through the second half to become the first school in college basketball history to win 1,000 games. | |
| 1/13/1969 | W - (88 - 68) | |
| Vanderbilt at (#1) Kentucky | Dan Issel became the first UK player to score 2,000 career points as the Wildcats avenged their only loss of the season. | |
| 2/28/1970 | W - (90 - 86) | |
| (#18) Kentucky vs. (#10) Florida State | The Seminoles won the Mideast Region title by routing the Wildcats in Adolph Rupp's final game as coach. | |
| 3/18/1972 | L - (54 - 73) | |
| (#5) Kentucky vs. (#1) Indiana | The Wildcats captured the Mideast Region title by handing the Hoosiers their first loss in 34 games. | |
| 3/22/1975 | W - (92 - 90) | |
| (#2) Kentucky vs. (#1) UCLA | Coach John Wooden closed out his coaching career by leading the bruins to their 10th NCAA title in 12 years. | |
| 3/31/1975 | L - (85 - 92) | |
| Mississippi State at Kentucky | Jack Givens keyed a late rally as the Wildcats outlasted the Bulldogs in the last game played at Memorial Coliseum. | |
| 3/8/1976 | W - (94 - 93 OT) | |
| Wisconsin at (#6) Kentucky | With Adolph Rupp looking on from the stands, the Wildcats dumped the Badgers in the first game played at Rupp Arena. | |
| 11/27/1976 | W - (72 - 64) | |
| (#1) Kentucky vs. (#7) Duke | Jack Givens scored 41 points as the Wildcats captured their fifth NCAA title. | |
| 3/27/1978 | W - (94 - 88) | |
| (#5) Kansas at (#10) Kentucky | After forcing overtime, the Cats were down 66-60 with 31 seconds to go. Back-to-back baskets by freshman Dwight Anderson cut the lead to two before he stole the inbounds pass and fed Kyle Macy for the tying jumper. Macy completed the comeback by adding technical free throw when Kansas called a timeout it didn't have. | |
| 12/9/1978 | W - (67 - 66 OT) | |
| (#12) Kentucky vs. (#2) Louisville | The first meeting between the two teams in more than 24 years proved memorable as the Cardinals outscored the Wildcats 18-6 in overtime to advance to the Final Four. | |
| 3/26/1983 | L - (68 - 80 OT) | |
| (#6) Louisville at (#2) Kentucky | In the first regular-season meeting in 61 years between the two in-state rivals, the Wildcats employed a swarming defense and balanced offense to roll to victory. | |
| 11/26/1983 | W - (65 - 44) | |
| (#3) Kentucky vs. Louisville | Winston Bennett's three-point play with 13 seconds left pushed the Wildcats into the Mideast Regional final. | |
| 3/22/1984 | W - (72 - 67) | |
| (#3) Kentucky vs. (#2) Georgetown | The Hoyas outscored the Wildcats 23-2 at the start of the second half on their way to the NCAA title game. UK sank only three of 33 field goal attempts in the second half. | |
| 3/31/1984 | L - (40 - 53) | |
| Kentucky vs. (#9) UNLV | Kenny Walker scored 23 points and provided a key block in the final minutes as the Wildcats advanced to the West Regional final. | |
| 3/16/1985 | W - (64 - 61) | |
| Kentucky vs. (#3) St. Johns | Having announced he would retire following the game, Coach Joe B. Hall watched as the Redmen ended the Wildcats' Final Four hopes. | |
| 3/22/1985 | L - (70 - 86) | |
| (#12) Oklahoma at Kentucky | Richard Madison's basket with eight seconds left enabled the Wildcats to upset the No. 12 Sooners. | |
| 3/1/1987 | W - (75 - 74) | |
| Ohio at Kentucky | The long-awaited debut of Coach Rick Pitino and the Wildcats was worth waiting for as Reggie Hanson scored 24 points and UK held off the Bobcats. | |
| 11/28/1989 | W - (76 - 73) | |
| (#12) Louisiana State at Kentucky | Described by many as one of the most exciting games ever played at Rupp arena, the Wildcats burst out to an early lead and then held off Chris Jackson and the Tigers. | |
| 2/15/1990 | W - (100 - 95) | |
| (#24) Alabama at (#13) Kentucky | Kentucky beat the Crimson Tide to win its 200th game in Rupp Arena and became one of two schools (along with North Carolina) to win 1,500 basketball games. | |
| 2/26/1991 | W - (79 - 73) | |
| Auburn at (#13) Kentucky | Before the then-largest crowd in Rupp arena history, the Wildcats closed out the 1990-91 season with a 22-6 overall record. Although UK was ineligible for the SEC title because of probation, the Wildcats secured the best record in the league (14-4) with the win over Auburn. A ceremony and parade followed. | |
| 3/2/1991 | W - (114 - 93) | |
| (#9) Kentucky vs. (#17) Alabama | Kentucky roared back from a 32-29 halftime deficit to crush Alabama, 80-54, and take the SEC Tournament championship after being banned from the event for two years. | |
| 3/15/1992 | W - (80 - 54) | |
| (#6) Kentucky vs. (#1) Duke | In what many called the "greatest NCAA Tournament game ever played," Kentucky took top-ranked and defending champion Duke to overtime before a desperation shot by Christian Laettner sent the Blue Devils to the Final Four. | |
| 3/28/1992 | L - (103 - 104 OT) | |
| (#2) Kentucky vs. (#11) Florida State | Kentucky beat Florida State to advance to the NCAA Final Four in New Orleans. The victory completed a string of four games in which the Wildcats blitzed their Southeast Region opponents by an average of 31.0 points - the largest margin of victory by a team through four games en route to the Final Four. | |
| 3/27/1993 | W - (106 - 81) | |
| (#2) Kentucky vs. (#3) Michigan | Kentucky faced Michigan in the NCAA semifinals, marking UK's 10th Final Four appearance. An 81-78 overtime loss to the Wolverines ended the Cats' season at 30-4 and marked All-American Jamal Mashburn's last game in UK blue. | |
| 4/3/1993 | L - (78 - 81 OT) | |
| (#11) Kentucky at Louisiana State | Trailing by 31 points with 15:34 remaining in the game, the Wildcats went on a tear. They hit 11 three-pointers and outscored the Tigers 62-27 during the final 15:34. UK's 99-95 win marked the greatest comeback in school history. | |
| 2/15/1994 | W - (99 - 95) | |
| (#10) Kentucky vs. (#17) Florida | Kentucky faced Florida for the second time in 11 days, and for the second time , the Wildcats beat the Gators. The triumph in Memphis gave UK its third consecutive SEC Tournament title, and improved the Pitino-era SEC Tourney mark to a perfect 9-0. | |
| 3/13/1994 | W - (73 - 60) | |
| (#3) Kentucky vs. (#5) Arkansas | Kentucky repeatedly clawed its way back in the SEC Tournament final - finding itself trailing by 19 in the first half, 12 points with nine minutes left in the second half and nine pints with 1:33 remaining in overtime. | |
| 3/12/1995 | W - (95 - 93 OT) | |
| (#2) Kentucky vs. (#1) Massachusetts | In a rematch from an early season loss, the Wildcats fought off a late rally in the national semifinals to advance to the championship game. The top-ranked Minutemen pulled within three, 63-60, in the final five minutes. But UK canned 12 of 14 free throws to advance to the title game for the first time in 18 years. | |
| 3/30/1996 | W - (81 - 74) | |
| (#2) Kentucky vs. (#15) Syracuse | Behind an NCAA title game record-tying seven three-pointers from Tony Delk, UK won its sixth national title. After two John Wallace free throws cut the UK lead to two, 64-62, the Wildcats responded with a Walter McCarty tip-in and a Derek Anderson three-pointer and Syracuse never threatened again. | |
| 4/1/1996 | W - (76 - 67) | |
| (#5) Kentucky vs. (#15) Arizona | Trying to become the second team in 24 years to repeat as national champion, Ron Mercer and Anthony Epps nailed three-pointers inside the last minute to force overtime. But with four Wildcats fouling out, Arizona outscored UK by five in the extra period in Rick Pitino's final game as coach at Kentucky. | |
| 3/31/1997 | L - (79 - 84 OT) | |
| (#5) Kentucky vs. (#3) Duke | The Wildcats fell behind by 18 points in the first half and by 17 points with 9:38 remaining in the game before avenging a 1992 loss to the Blue Devils. Cameron Mills' three-pointer with 2:15 left gave UK its first lead, 80-79, before Scott Padgett's trey with 39.4 seconds remaining broke an 81-81 tie as Kentucky advanced to the Final Four for the third consecutive year. | |
| 3/22/1998 | W - (86 - 84) | |
| (#5) Kentucky vs. (#10) Stanford | Kentucky rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit, then grabbed a 5-point overtime lead, before fending off the Cardinal to advance to the title game for the third straight season. Jeff Sheppard canned three long-range three-pointers - two in the final three minutes and one in overtime - en route to a career-high 27 points. | |
| 3/28/1998 | W - (86 - 85 OT) | |
| (#5) Kentucky vs. (#7) Utah | After being outrebounded 24-6 in the first half an trailing 41-31 at the break, the "Comeback Cats" charged from behind to win the school's seventh national title, its second in three years. It was the largest deficit overcome in a title game as the Wildcats beat the Utes for the fourth time in the last six NCAA Tournaments. | |
| 3/30/1998 | W - (78 - 69) | |
| (#2) Maryland at (#5) Kentucky | ||
| 12/12/1998 | W - (103 - 91) | |
| Louisville at (#6) Kentucky | ||
| 12/29/2001 | W - (82 - 62) | |
| (#1) Florida at (#6) Kentucky | ||
| 2/4/2003 | W - (70 - 55) | |
Information compiled and web page created by Jon Scott. Please send all additions/corrections to this address.
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