NIT and the Kentucky Wildcats a History of Past Teams

As we all know by now Kentucky will play in its ninth NIT this year.  Let’s take a little trip back in time and look at Kentucky’s history in the NIT.  Kentucky hold an overall record of 13-6 in the NIT from the 8 previous invitations and two championships, one 2nd place and one 3rd place finish.

The first year Kentucky went to the NIT was in 1944, in the quarter finals Kentucky defeated Utah 46-38 and than moved on and lost to St John’s in the Semi Finals 48-45.  Kentucky would go on to win the third place game against Oklahoma A&M 48 – 45.  Kentucky would end its season with a 19-2 record and third place in the NIT.

The second appearance in the NIT came in 1946 .  Kentucky started out the NIT by beating Arizona 77-53, then West Virgina in the Semi-Finals 59 – 51.  Kentucky moved on to the championship game and defeated Rhode Island 46-45 for their first NIT Championship.  Kentucky would end its season with a 28-2 record.

The third and back to back appearance was in 1947.  Kentucky beat Long Island State 66-62 and moved on to defeat N.C. State in the semi finals 60-42.  Kentucky made a hard run at winning back to back titles but would lose to Utah 45-49 in the Championship game.  Kentucky would end its season with 34-3 record and runner-up in the NIT.

The fourth appearance would come in 1949.  Kentucky lost in quarter finals that year to Loyola 56-67.  Loyola would go on to win the championship that year. After this lose Kentucky would go on to win the NCAA Championship and finish the season with a 32-2 record.

The fifth appearance came in 1950.  Kentucky would once again lose in the quarter finals to the eventual champs CCNY 89-50.  Kentucky would end its season with a  25-5 record.

The sixth appearance would come years later in 1976.  Kentucky would face Niagara in the first round and win 67 -61 then moved on to defeat Kansas St. 81-78.  In the semi finals Kentucky faced Providence and won a close one 79-78.  Once again, Kentucky finds its self in the championship game facing Charlotte and would win its second title and an overall record of 25-10.

The seventh appearance would come in 1979.  Kentucky would lose in the first round to Clemson in a close game 68-67 and finish the season with an overall record of 19-12.

Many years later after a disappointing season Kentucky would find its self in the NIT again. In 2009 Kentucky would be a 4 seed and in the first round would play and defeat UNLV 70-60.  Then Kentucky would defeat Creighton in the second round 65-63.  In the quarterfinals Kentucky would end its run against Notre Dame 77-67.  This would bring the season to an end and an overall record of 22- 14.

The ninth appearance and story continues to be wrote.  Hopefully Kentucky can end this season on a high note and be very impressive in the NIT and play its way to the Madison Square Gardens.

Written by: Blue Brandon

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Email me: wbnbluebrandon@gmail.com