| # | Name | Pos | Class | Ht. | Wt. | Hometown (School) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #19 | Jack Parkinson (L) | G | Jr. | 6-0 | 175 | Yorktown, IN (High) | All-American [Consensus (2nd), Converse (1st), True (3rd), Helms]; All-SEC [First Team]; All-SEC Tournament; |
| #27 | Wallace Jones (L) | F-C | Fr. | 6-4 | 205 | Harlan, KY (High) | All-SEC [First Team]; All-SEC Tournament; |
| #12 | Ralph Beard (L) | G | Fr. | 5-10 | 175 | Louisville, KY (Male) | All-SEC [First Team]; All-SEC Tournament; |
| #19 | Jack Tingle (L) | F | Jr. | 6-3 | 185 | Bedford, KY (Trimble High) | All-American [Sporting News (3rd), Converse (3rd)]; All-SEC [First Team]; All-SEC Tournament; |
| #3 | Wilbur Schu (L) | F | Sr. | 6-4 | 180 | Versailles, KY (High) | All-SEC [Second Team]; All-SEC Tournament; |
| #14 | Joe Holland (L) | F | Fr. | 6-4 | 190 | Benton, KY (High) | - |
| #35 | Mulford Davis (L) | F | Jr. | 6-1 | 185 | Elwood, IN (High) | - |
| #20 | Kenton Campbell (L) | C | So. | 6-4 | 195 | Newark, OH (High) | - |
| #39 | Darrell Lorance | F | Fr. | 6-1 | 184 | Conway, MO (High) | - |
| #13 | J. Ed Parker (L) | F-G | Jr. | 6-0 | 150 | Lexington, KY (Henry Clay) | - |
| #24 | Malcolm McMullen | F-C | Fr. | 6-5 | 205 | Hamilton, OH (High) | - |
| - | Sam Zeman | F | Fr. | 6-2 | 175 | Pittsburgh, PA (Avalon) | - |
| #7 | William Sturgill (L) | G | Sr. | 6-2 | 185 | Prestonsburg, KY (High) | - |
| #20 | Deward Compton | C | So. | 6-5 | 205 | Murfreesboro, TN (Castle Heights MA) | - |
| #19 | Jim Weber | F-C | Jr. | 6-6 | 210 | Pettisville, OH (High) | - |
| #34 | Ed Allin | F-G | Jr. | 6-1 | 165 | Lexington, KY (Henry Clay) | - |
| #35 | Zeb Blankenship | G | Fr. | 5-11 | 170 | Elkhorn City, KY (High) | - |
| #7 | Johnny Crockett | G | Fr. | 6-2 | 190 | Maysville, KY (High) | - |
| - | Bob Hehl | F | Fr. | 6-0 | 170 | Sulphur, KY (High) | - |
| #42 | Barkley Sturgill | F | - | 6-3 | 185 | Prestonsburg, KY (High) | - |
| Schedule | Player Statistics | Game Statistics |
 |
1945-46 Squad |
Sitting (l to r): Pulliam, Sam Zeman, Robert Hehl, Darrell Lorance, Zeb Blankenship, Ed Allin, Singleton Yeary |
Season Review - Basketball (Kentuckian)
 |
The Wildcats' basketball mentor is now in his 16th year as coach of the famed Kentucky team, that has ranked year after year as one of the top basketball aggregations in the nation.
Rupp started developing winning basketball teams for Kentucky in 1930. In 1944, he won the highest honor in the basketball world -- election to the basketball hall of fame. He was the 10th coach so honored in the history of the court sport.
In the last 15 seasons the 'Cats have won 225 games, while losing but 62, an average of better than 80 percent. Since Rupp has been at the University, the Wildcats have lost but eight games on their home floor.
Coach Rupp is as colorful as the teams that he produces. He plays the game, and he instills that spirit into the men who fight for Kentucky victories.
The coach is a native of Halstead, Kansas, and attended the University of Kansas, playing basketball under Dr. Phog Allen.
 |
Schu Jones Campbell |
 |
Beard Holland McMullen |
In the previous season Kentucky lost what was thought to be one of the top-ranking players of the nation -- Alex Groza, who was drafted into the army. Also lost were Johnny Stough, a guard, who was also called into the army and George Vulich, a center, who left the University. Groza was first string center until he was called. Most men of the national sports circles claim that Groza would have been acclaimed all-American had he stayed in school.
Lettermen remaining on the Kentucky squad from last year are Wilbur Schu and Bill Sturgill, seniors; Jack Tingle, Jack Parkinson, Buddy Parker, and Ed Allin, juniors; Rudy Yessin and Kenton Campbell, sophomores. Of the above mentioned - Jack Parkinson and Jack Tingle were chosen as All-Southeastern Conference players for the seasons of 1943-44 and 1944-45. Kenton Campbell was chosen All-Southeastern center for the season of 1944-45, and Wilbur Schu was chosen as All-Southeastern second team forward for the season of 1943-44.
New men on the team include Ralph Beard, Wallace (Wah Wah) Jones, Joe Holland, Darrell Lorance, Malcolm McMullen, Jim Weber, Zeb Blankenship, and Barkley Sturgill. Other men back from last season's squad are Deward Compton and Singleton Yeary.
Jack Tingle, captain of the 1944-45 team, is again first string forward. Jack Parkinson, newly elected captain, is one of the starting guards, and ranks high on the list of high scorers for the Southeastern Conference. Newcomer Wallace (Wah-Wah) Jones has taken over the center position. Jones, who hails from Harlan, was proclaimed the greatest player of American high school basketball and also established a record by scoring 2,398 points in four years of high school participation. Wilbur Schu, Tingle's running mate, is one of the best rebound artists in the nation. Schu won letters in 1943, 44 and 45 for basketball at Kentucky. At the other guard position is newcomer Ralph Beard from Male High School at Louisville. Beard, like Jones, was placed on the All-State team during his junior and senior years at high school. Beard has proved to be one of the fastest men to ever hit the UK court. He is well known as a "ball stealer" and has also proved to be an excellent floor shot.
 |
Sturgill |
 |
Allin |
Other lettermen who head the sub list are Buddy Parker, Bill Sturgill, Ed Allin, Deward Compton and Kenton "Dutch" Campbell. Newcomers who have shared the spotlight as substitutes are Joe Holland, Malcolm McMullen, Darrell Lorance and Jim Weber.
On December 1 the Wildcats took on their first opposition when they played the cagers from Ft. Knox. In this game, the Wildcats gave the fans only a preview of the material and the strength that they had. They easily defeated Ft. Knox, 59-36. The Ft. Knox team has not beaten the Wildcats in five games.
The following week the squad played a double-header with Western Ontario. In the first game, it looked for a few minutes as if the Kentucky team might be defeated. They finally managed to pull away to win by a score of 51-42. The following night the Kentucky boys stepped out to show what they had and to also avenge the close game of the night before, so they ran over the quint from Canada, 71-28. In this game the Kentucky squad made few mistakes and the fans were well satisfied seeing the Blue and White hit the pace that had been expected for so long.
 |
On December 15, the Kentuckians were host to the University of Cincinnati. The Bearcats had defeated the Kentuckians in a gridiron contest earlier in the season so the basketball team beat the Cincy boys for a large margin to avenge the earlier defeat.
The next four contests were termed by assistant coach "Baldy" Gilb as "four tough games." The first was the game with the favored Arkansas team. Favoritism did not help the Arkies however, since the Wildcats won the contest b a large margin of 67-42. The Kentucky men showed great improvement in this game, and fans, expecting to see a close tilt, were rather disappointed.
Only three days after defeating the Arkansas quintet the powerful Ruppmen came in contact with Oklahoma. This game proved to be tougher than previous games, but still the Kentucky team overran the Oklahoma squad, 43-33.
 |
From Madison Square Garden the Wildcats traveled to Philadelphia to tangle with the strong Temple team. Temple had their original team from last year back with them and thus proved too much for the travel-weary Kentuckians. Temple beat the Kentucky Wildcats 53-45 to spoil the undefeated record of the so-called "mountain boys."
On January 5, the Wildcats returned to their home court to defeat Ohio University by a score of 57-48.
Following this game the Kentucky boys played for the benefit of the fans who were not fortunate enough to get tickets for the other games. The Ruppmen smashed into the Army team of Ft. Benning, defeating them by the large margin of 81-25.
Next the Wildcats mashed an age-old jinx of not being able to defeat the Michigan State team on the Michigan floor by downing the Michigan State quintet 55-44. Beard of the Wildcats led the scorers by ringing up 18 for the Wildcats.
Following the trip to East Lansing, the Wildcats again took the road to Cincinnati where they met Xavier. They went in with lightening speed, defeating the Xavier squad, 62-36.
With this victory over Xavier, the Wildcats brought their record to eleven victories and one defeat. Each game for the Kentucky team seemed to bring better results. In fact, the boys of UK played with the intention of again winning the Southeastern Conference and going high in the national tourney at Madison Square Garden.
Kentucky finished up the regular season by adding nine additional victories and one defeat to the ledger making their season count 20 wins and two losses. The Wildcats overcame Tennessee 50-32; Georgia Tech 68-43; then lost to Notre Dame 56-47; but came back with victories over Georgia Tech 54-26; Michigan State 59-51; Vanderbilt 59-37, and 64-31; Ohio U. 60-52 and Xavier 83-40.
The Wildcats started post season play by downing four Southeastern Conference opponents to take their third successive crown. It was their eighth tournament and ninth conference championship. In 1935 no tournament was played, but Kentucky was conceded the championship on a percentage basis.
Kentucky had little trouble overcoming Auburn in the first round. At half time Kentucky was on top 29-14. In the second half the Kentuckians added 40 points to their score and held Auburn to 10 and thus the final score read 69-24.
In the quarter-finals, Kentucky met Florida. The 'Cats jumped to an early lead and were ahead 55-17 at the half. The 'Gators tried hard but the final score still favored the Wildcats 69-32.
Alabama upset Tennessee in the other round of the quarter finals and thus were pitted against Kentucky in the semi-finals. The Crimson Tide hopped to an 8-1 lead as the 'Cats began to move slowly. After 11 minutes of the first half had passed the Wildcats took the lead and move dit to 32-18 by the rest period. The second team played most of the last half outscoring Alabama better than two to one to give Kentucky a 59-30 victory and the right to play in the finals.
 |
Another fact that proved Kentucky's might was that four of the Wildcats' starting five were selected on the Associated Press' all-Southeastern Conference team, and the remaining player won a berth on the second team. Captain Jack Parkinson was the only unanimous choice. Wallace Jones got 37 votes out of a possible 40, while Jack Tingle collected 33, and Ralph Beard received 30. Wilbur Schu made the second team. Bobby Lowther of LSU was the other player on the first team.
The Wildcats followed through a week later in Louisville and avenged their earlier loss to Temple by handing the Owls a 54-43 setback. Kentucky was behind 28-25 at the half, but the stubborn 'Cats turned loose their fury and pulled ahead shortly after the start of the final period.
 |
Next on their schedule was the Metropolitan Invitational Tournament. The Kentuckians entered the tourney as strong favorites and had little trouble disposing of their first round opponents, the Arizona Wildcats, 77-53.
In the semi-finals they met the West Virginia Mountaineers in a game that was nip and tuck all the way. The score was tied 14 times before Kentucky got hot with about two and an half minutes left in the game and scored eight successive points to take a 59-51 decision.
The finals proved to be another thriller when the Rhode Island Rams, 20-1 bet before the tourney, matched Kentucky point for point and held a 27-25 lead at half time. The score in this game was tied an even dozen times. Then in the closing minutes Ralph Beard dropped through the winning point on a charity toss, while 18,000 fans screamed and shouted in an effort to rattle him. The Rams made several desperate flings at the basket in the fleeting seconds, but with no luck, and the Wildcats won their first Invitational tourney, 46-45.
This year's team broke numerous Kentucky records for points scored and became the first Wildcat team to win 28 games in one season. Jack Parkinson accounted for 143 field goals and 53 free throws to amass a total of 339 points and break the individual scoring record at Kentucky for one season.
Wilbur Schu wound up the basketball season for Kentucky by representing them on the West all-stars in the East-West charity game in Madison Square Garden.
