Great Shots in Kentucky History
(Graphic courtesy of Derek Gwinn)
March 20, 1946 vs. Rhode Island
Ralph Beard - Was fouled with 43 seconds left and made his only shot (only one shot was awarded for a non-shooting foul at the time) despite admitting later that he was scared to death. This gave Kentucky the NIT title, its first national title, 46-45.
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February 14, 1948 vs. Tennessee
Ralph Beard - The buzzer-beater is still one of the longest shots (52.5') in UK history.
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Vernon Hatton - Shot ties the score in the final second of the first overtime. Kentucky finally prevailed in the third overtime session. "Kentucky trailed 71-69 with three seconds left [in the first overtime] after Temple's Guy Rodgers, a magnificent all-around guard who tallied 24 points, sent through a 15-foot push shot. One second Left - Swish ! Kentucky signaled time out with one precious - although seemingly futile - second glimmering red on the scoreboard. The Wildcats took the ball out at mid-floor. The Wildcats lined up evenly, about a yard apart, on the white stripe at mid floor, except John Crigler. He threw the ball in from out-of-bounds to Hatton. Hatton, with a 45-degree angle or so at the basket, fired immediately. The ball arched high, power behind it. It thumped into dead center of the hoop, bounced violently between the iron circle, but was trapped and fell through. Bedlam broke." - Louisville Courier Journal, December 7, 1957.
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Terry Mobley - Shot shocks Duke 81-79 and allows Kentucky to claim Sugar Bowl title. "Kentucky then called a time-out with 47 seconds left. This time, the Wildcats played for the final shot, with little Randy Embry dribbling the ball until he fired a pass to Mobley. Mobley may have been the last Wildcat the Blue Devils expected to take the final shot. For [Cotton] Nash held the hot hand with his 30 points and [Ted] Deeken, who came to life in the second half, had 18 points." - Louisville Courier Journal January 1, 1964.
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March 27, 1978 vs. Duke
Jack Givens - Givens' shot from the side with over three minutes remaining in the game miraculously banks in, and Kentucky goes on to win the game using Givens' 41 points. This shot underscores to Duke that this particular night belonged to the "Golden Goose."
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February 24, 1980 vs. Lousiana State
Kyle Macy - Macy plays the entire game and caps the game in overtime with a jumper which gave Wildcats the 1980 SEC title over a talented LSU squad, 76-74.
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March 10, 1984 vs. Auburn
Kenny Walker - Shot at the buzzer defeats the Charles Barkley-led Auburn squad and clinches the SEC Tournament title for the first time since the tournament was reinstated. "With three seconds left, Jim Master bounced a pass to Walker just to the right of the key, and he shot with two seconds left. The ball hit the front of the rim, bounced up and through the net as the buzzer sounded. 'One of the greatest things about this victory,' said Kentucky coach Joe B. Hall, 'is that maybe now folks will stop saying the tournament isn't important to us.'" - Atlanta Journal and Constitution, March 11, 1984.
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December 12, 1987 vs. Louisville
Cedric Jenkins - Jenkins' tips-in his only points of the game to give UK a 76-75 win against arch rival Louisville.
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March 28, 1992 vs. Duke
Sean Woods - Woods drove down the side of the key and banked in this 10-foot floater over the outstretched hands of the taller Duke players to give UK the lead with 2.9 seconds left in overtime. This game, against the number one rated and defending champion Blue Devils is considered one of the most exciting and best played NCAA tournament games in history.
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Jeff Brassow - Brassow flew in and put back a Rodrick Rhodes' desperation miss from near half-court as UK won the Maui Invitational, 93-92.
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February 15, 1994 vs. Louisiana State
Walter McCarty - McCarty's three-pointer from the corner completed an amazing 31-point comeback against the Tigers in Baton Rouge.
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Tony Delk - This three point shot from the side was part of a four-point play and lifted UK to its sixth NCAA title. Delk made an amazing seven three-pointers in the contest.
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March 22, 1998 vs. Duke
Scott Padgett - The three-pointer from the top of the circle broke an 81-81 tie with 39.4 seconds left and capped a 17-point comeback against the number-1 seeded Blue Devils. This shot was preceded by an equally critical three-pointer by Cameron Mills when Heshimu Evans outfought three Duke players for a rebound and tipped the ball out to Mills near the top of the key.
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December 8, 2001 vs. North Carolina
Tayshaun Prince - His fifth consecutive three point bomb of the first half against visiting North Carolina came from nearly half-court. The Tar Heels never knew what hit them.
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January 13, 2004 vs. Mississippi State
Erik Daniels - He picked up a botched alley-oop play and the lefty laid it in as time expired to give Kentucky a huge win over SEC West leader Mississippi State in Starkville.
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December 18, 2004 vs. Louisville
Patrick Sparks - Sparks was fouled in the corner on a three-point attempt in the closing seconds of the game. He walked to the line and calmly sank three free throws to torpedo the Cardinals on the Freedom Hall Floor and give UK a two point win.
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March 14, 2010 vs. Mississippi State
DeMarcus Cousins - Cousins rebounded a missed shot by John Wall and put it into the hoop with 0.1 seconds left on the clock to tie the score and put the game into overtime. Kentucky ended up winning the game, which was for the SEC Tournament Championship.
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Brandon Knight - Knight rose over Aaron Craft and shot the game winner to beat #1 ranked Ohio State University to lift Kentucky into the NCAA Regional finals. The Wildcats ended up losing in the National Semifinals to Connecticut.
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January 10, 2013 vs. Vanderbilt
Nerlens Noel - Noel gets off a shot just as the shot clock expired to preserve the lead for UK, in a game which UK won 60-58 on Vanderbilt's home floor.
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Aaron Harrison - With Kentucky behind 67-68 with under a minute to play, Julius Randle passed out to Aaron Harrison, who was spotted up in the corner and drained a three pointer to put Kentucky up in the game, 70-68. Kentucky went on to win the game against their arch-rival and defending National Champion Louisville Cardinals, 74-69.
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Aaron Harrison - With the score tied 72-72, Harrison hit a tightly contested three-point shot over Michigan's Caris LeVert with less than five seconds remaining in the game for the game winner to put UK in the Final Four.
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Aaron Harrison - For the second time in a row, Aaron Harrison shoots a game-winning three pointer. This time against Wisconsin in the National Semifinal, Harrison took Kentucky from a two-point deficit into a 74-73 lead with five seconds remaining in the game.
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