ICYMI – Kentucky Basketball: When the Winning Streak Ends

Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Yesterday, in Brasil, at the World Cup, Spain lost to Chile. It was “La Roja’s” second straight loss and guarantees they will not make the knockout stage of the tournament. Spain, of course, is the defending World Cup champion, having won the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, defeating Holland 1-0. Since 2008, Spain have won every major international tournament in which they have competed—the 2008 European Championship, the 2010 World Cup, and the 2012 European Championship (I’m ignoring the 2009 and 2013 Confederations’ Cup because, while important, isn’t really a major tournament). Since 2008, Spain went 17-1-3 in the European Championships and World Cup (for you non-soccer fans out there, that’s 17 wins, 1 draw, and 3 losses). They were as dominating as any team could be in major international soccer. Their loss in an end of an era.

Which made me think about major streaks and dominating performances in college basketball. How did they end? What happened? And, is there video?

Kentucky’s 129-Game Home Winning Streak: On January 2, 1943 Kentucky lost at home to Ohio State. It would be another 12 years before the Wildcats suffered another home defeat, a streak of 129 games. On January 8, 1955, Georgia Tech upset Kentucky 59-58 in Memorial Coliseum. A Sports Illustrated piece from 1994 describes what happened that night in Lexington:

"“The Kentucky players admitted later that they were looking past the Yellow Jackets to a home game scheduled two days later against highly regarded DePaul. The result: an uninspired Kentucky performance that enabled Georgia Tech to gain confidence as the game unfolded. Early in the second half, to the disbelief of Rupp and the crowd of 11,000, the Yellow Jackets led by as much as eight points. Then Kentucky woke up, as everyone knew it would; the Wildcats moved to a 58-55 lead with 1:12 remaining. Even after guard Bobby Kimmel made two free throws to cut the lead to 58-57, nobody thought that Tech would be able to pull out a win.With 18 seconds to go, Billy Evans, Kentucky‘s captain, took an inbounds pass from fellow guard Gayle Rose. Under pressure from Kimmel, Evans lost the ball to Tech’s double-teaming Joe Helms, who at 5’9″ was the smallest player on the floor. Helms went down the court and canned a 12-foot jumper with 12 seconds left to give Tech the lead. In the final seconds Kentucky got off two shots—a jumper by Linville Puckett and a tip by Phil Grawemeyer—but neither of them went down. When the final horn sounded, the crowd sat frozen, not believing what it had just seen.”"

Considering few games were televised during that era and fans didn’t travel with the team to the extent fans do now, many in the stands that night had probably never actually seen Kentucky lose a basketball game.

Connecticut Huskies, 90-0: In 2008, the University of Connecticut Women’s Basketball team lost to Stanford in the Final Four. Over the next 3 seasons, the Huskies would reel off 90 straight before losing to Stanford on December 30, 2010. Their run included back-to-back national championships in 2009 and 2010, along with two 39-0 seasons. Their 90 victories eclipses the UCLA Bruins for most consecutive victories in college basketball.

UCLA Bruins Win 88 Straight: From 1971-1974,  John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins won 88 straight, which still stands at the record for most consecutive wins in men’s college basketball. The run included 3 straight national championships (1971, 1972, and 1973). John Wooden won Coach of the Year honors in 1971, 1972, and 1973. But, on January 28, 1974, the streak came to an end. And the team to end the streak? Digger Phelps’ Notre Dame squad. There was no love lost between Wooden and Digger. The two were not pals. If you think Pitino and Calipari don’t get along, Wooden and Digger make those two look like the best of friends.