The above image is from Kentucky’s inaugural game at Rupp Arena. The Wildcats hosted the Wisconsin Badgers on November 27th, 1976 and the UK came away with a 72-64 victory to kick off what would be one of the nation’s best homecourt advantages. Tomorrow at noon Kentucky will play North Carolina in their 222nd non-conference game at Rupp Arena. And with both teams being ranked in the top 5 of the AP Poll, the game is being hyped to be one of the best in the Rupp Arena era. So that got me to thinking about past great game at Rupp Arena. As a result, I have compiled a list of the top 10 non-conference games in Rupp Arena history. Hope it will bring back some great memories for the Wildcat Blue Nation out there. Enjoy:
#10: December 5th, 2009: #5 Kentucky – 68 #10 North Carolina – 66 (Attendance: 24,468)
Kentucky came into the 2009-2010 season in a slump, with their 2008-2009 season ending in a NIT appearance and a 22-14 record. The Tar Heels came into the game as defending national champions and #10 in the AP Poll. Add the fact that UNC had won 5 meetings in a row against the Wildcats and the matchup looked grim. Did I forget to mention that this was John Calipari’s first season at Kentucky? The Wildcats countered UNC’s talent with a sensational freshman trio of Eric Bledsoe, DeMarcus Cousisns, and John Wall. Kentucky came out firing on all cylinders, racing out to a 19 point lead in the first half, and took a commanding 15 point lead into halftime. But the second half was a completely different story as the Tar Heels outscored the Wildcats 38-25. Freshmen came through for UK though as Eric Bledsoe and John Wall combined to make 5 free-throws in the final seconds to secure the 68-66 win for Kentucky, their first win over North Carolina since January 3rd, 2004. Kentucky went on to finish the 2009-2010 season with a 35-3 record, a #2 ranking in the final AP Poll, and an Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels finished the season with a 20-17 record and lost in the finals of the NIT.
- Kentucky’s Leading Scorer: Patrick Patterson – 19 points
- North Carolina’s Leading Scorer: Deon Thompson – 14 points
- Stat Of The Game: Kentucky held North Carolina to just 38.8% shooting from the field, making just 26 of their 67 attempts.
#9: December 4th, 1982: #3 Kentucky – 93 #4 Villanova – 79 (Attendance: 23,884)
Kentucky came into the 1982-1983 season with a 22-8 record and an early exit from the NCAA Tournament from the previous season. The other Wildcats, of the Villanova type, had a successful 1981-1982 campaign with a 24-8 record and an Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. It was the first meeting between the two schools since December 29th, 1949. Both teams came into the game ranked in the top 4 of the AP Poll, so this game was supposed to be a literal cat fight. It ended up being a cat walk for Kentucky. From the opening tip UK overwhelmed Villanova with their talent and the hostile crowd, and it showed with the score. Kentucky opened up a big 13 point lead at the half, 48-35, and the Wildcats never looked back. The second half was a little closer, UK outscored Villanova 45-44, but it was more than enough for Kentucky to preserve the 93-79 blowout of the nation’s 4th best team. Kentucky finished the 1982-1983 season with a 23-8 record, a #12 ranking in the final AP Poll, and an Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Those other Wildcats finished the season with a 24-8 record, a #13 ranking in the final AP Poll, and an Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Looks like their seasons were a mirror image of each other.
- Kentucky’s Leading Scorer: Derrick Hord, 26 points
- Villanova’s Leading Scorer: Stewart Granger, 22 points
- Stat Of The Game: Kentucky shot a blistering 63.6% from the field, making 35 of their 55 attempts.
#8: December 22nd, 1979: #3 Kentucky – 61 #9 Purdue – 60 (Attendance: 23,768)
Kentucky entered the 1979-1980 season with a disappointing previous season, a 19-12 record and an opening round loss in the NIT. Purdue had a similar fate in the 1978-1979 season, a NIT appearance, but they reached the finals and ended up with a 27-8 record. It was also UK’s first game against Lee Rose, Purdue’s head coach, since the 1976 NIT championship game when Lee was the head coach at UNC-Charlotte. This was also the championship game of Kentucky’s 27th annual UKIT. The Wildcats came out sluggish to start out the game and couldn’t find any offensive rhythm as the Boilermakers headed into the locker room at halftime with a 4 point lead, 29-25. But Kentucky made some adjustments and had just enough offensive firepower in the second half to squeak out the victory, 61-60. Future Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings played in the game for Purdue, but did pretty much nothing in his 6 minutes on the court. Kentucky finished the 1979-1980 season with a 29-6 record, a #4 ranking in the final AP Poll, and a Sweet Sixteen appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Purdue finished the season with a 23-10 record, a #20 ranking in the AP Poll, and a surprising run to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament.
- Kentucky’s Leading Scorer: Fred Cowan and Kyle Macy, 18 points
- Purdue’s Leading Scorer: Joe Barry Carroll, 25 points
- Stat Of The Game: Kentucky was almost perfect from the charity stripe, making 19 of their 21 attempts (90.5%) from the free-throw line.
#7: November 26th, 1983: #2 Kentucky – 65 #6 Louisville – 44 (Attendance: 24,012)
Kentucky came into the 1983-1984 season with a 23-8 record and a loss to Louisville in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament in the previous season. The Cardinals finished the previous season with a 32-4 record and a Final Four appearance in the NCAA Tournament. So the Wildcats faced the Cardinals in consecutive games, their final game in 1982-1983 and their first game in 1983-1984. Oh yeah, by the way, this was the first regular-season game between Kentucky and Louisville since January 21st, 1922, 61 years of hate and rivalry. Add the fact that both teams were ranked in the top 6 of the Preseason AP Poll and the matchup was supposed to be a game for the ages. But the Wildcats fed off the energy from the crowd and dominated the intra-state rival from start to finish. The Wildcats had a convincing 15 point lead at halftime, 35-20, and padded the lead by outscoring the Cardinals 30-24 in the second half en route to a 21 point blowout of the hated rivals, 65-44. That game remains as the largest margin of victory that Kentucky has had against an opponent ranked in the top 10 of the AP Poll in Rupp Arena history. The Wildcats finished the 1983-1984 season with a 29-5 record, a #3 ranking in the final AP Poll, and a trip to the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals finished the season with a 24-11 record and a Sweet Sixteen appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
- Kentucky’s Leading Scorer: Jim Master, 19 points
- Louisville’s Leading Scorer: Mark McSwain, 10 points
- Stat Of The Game: Kentucky made over 5 times as many free-throws as Louisville attempted. The Wildcats were 27 of 36 (75%) from the charity stripe while the Cardinals were just 2 of 5 (40%).
#6: January 22nd, 1984: #3 Kentucky – 74 #4 Houston – 67 (Attendance: 23,992)
Both teams entered the 1983-1984 season with successful campaigns in 1982-1983. Kentucky finished that season with a 23-8 record and an Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Houston finished the season with a 31-3 record and a loss in the national championship game of the NCAA Tournament. This was also the first meeting between the Cougars and Wildcats since December 29th, 1956. And yes, Guy Lewis was the head coach for Houston in both 1956 and 1983. It was built up as a matchup between Kentucky’s “twin towers” of Sam Bowie and Melvin Turpin against Houston’s “Phi Slama Jama” of Akeem Olajuwon and Michael Young. And with all the hype, the game didn’t disappoint. The Cougars came out streaking, opening up the game with a 11-1 lead. Then head coach Joe B. Hall decided to take out freshman point guard James Blackmon for sophomore Roger Harden and the Wildcats appeared to be a different team. The Wildcats rode the momentum of that change to take a slim 4 point lead into halftime, 35-31. Kentucky extended their lead to 10 points with 7:56 left in the game and was aided the rest of the way when Akeem Olajuwon fouled out, 1 of 4 Houston players to foul out, with 6:14 remaining. Kentucky outscored Houston 39-36 in the second half for a huge 74-67 victory. As in the previous season, both the Wildcats and Cougars had very similar fates in 1983-1984. Kentucky finished the season with a 29-5 record, a #3 ranking in the AP Poll, and a Final Four appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Houston finished the season with a 32-5 record, a #5 ranking in the final AP Poll, and yet another loss in the national championship game of the NCAA Tournament.
- Kentucky’s Leading Scorer: Kenny Walker, 20 points
- Houston’s Leading Scorer: Alvin Franklin, 25 points
- Stat Of The Game: Houston shot a meager 34.7% from the field, making just 26 of their 75 attempts.
#5: December 12th, 1998: #5 Kentucky – 103 #2 Maryland – 91 (Attendance: 24,321)
The Wildcats were flying high entering the 1998-1999 season, coming off a 35-4 record and their 7th national championship victory. Maryland had a 21-11 record and a Sweet Sixteen appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the 1997-1998 season. But it was the Terrapins who were ranked higher heading into this matchup, #2 in the AP Poll. The Wildcats came into the game ranked #5 in the AP Poll so it was a battle of top 5 teams. But it was surprisingly an easy victory for the Wildcats in a very high-scoring affair. The Wildcats used some hot shooting, from both inside and outside the 3-point line, to race to a commanding 54-41 lead at the half. Fortunately for UK they never cooled off, but Maryland outscored them 50-49 in the second half. But it wasn’t enough as Kentucky pulled away with the win 103-91. Kentucky finished the season with a 28-9 record, a #8 ranking in the AP Poll, and an Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Maryland finished the season with a 28-6 record, a #5 ranking in the final AP Poll, and a Sweet Sixteen appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
- Kentucky’s Leading Scorer: Heshimu Evans, 31 points
- Maryland’s Leading Scorer: Terence Morris, 26 points
- Stat Of The Game: Kentucky and Maryland combined to have 47 fouls and 66 free-throw attempts.
#4: December 23rd, 1999: Kentucky – 60 #5 Michigan State – 58 (Attendance: 23,318)
Kentucky entered the 1999-2000 season coming off a 28-9 record and an Elite Eight appearance the previous season. Tom Izzo’s Michigan State squad ended Kentucky’s season in the NCAA Tournament in 1998-1999, and they were at Rupp looking for another win against the Wildcats. The Spartans finished the 1998-1999 season with a 33-5 record and a Final Four appearance. The Wildcats also had a sluggish start to the 1999-2000 season, heading into the Michigan State game with just a 5-4 record. The Spartans entered Rupp with an 8-2 record and the #5 ranking in the latest AP Poll. Based on paper this was not going to be a good game. But the Wildcats proved everyone wrong in their biggest upset of a non-conference opponent in Rupp Arena history, an early Christmas present for the Big Blue Nation. It’s more of an amazing game by Kentucky when you consider the fact that Michigan State was leading by as many as 15 points in the first half. UK clawed back though and cut the Spartans’ lead to just 1 point at halftime, 28-27. A J.P. Blevins 3-pointer with 7:18 left in the game gave Kentucky their first lead of the game, and the Wildcats never gave it up, outscoring Michigan State 33-30 in the second half to pull off the upset, 60-58. At times it was ugly and it was low-scoring, but UK came away with the huge win. Kentucky finished the 1999-2000 season with a 23-10 record, a #19 ranking in the final AP Poll, and 2nd round loss in the NCAA Tournament. The loss didn’t phase Michigan State much as they went on to have a 32-7 record, a #2 ranking in the final AP Poll, and won the NCAA Tournament national championship.
- Kentucky’s Leading Scorer: Jamaal Magloire, 18 points
- Michigan State’s Leading Scorer: Morris Peterson, 18 points
- Stat Of The Game: Kentucky shot just 38.3% from the field, making 18 of their 47 attempts.
#3: March 24th, 1984: #3 Kentucky – 54 #6 Illinois – 51 (Attendance: 23,525)
This game was for the Mideast Regional Championship of the 1984 NCAA Tournament and a berth to the Final Four in Seattle. Ironically these two teams had met 3 months earlier in the season at Illinois and the Wildcats squeaked out a 56-54 victory. So the Fighting Illini were looking for revenge for the loss and the Wildcats were looking for an Elite Eight win in front of their home crowd. It turned out to be a classic and a game worthy of being a NCAA Tournament regional final. Both teams came out sluggish offensively in the first half and it showed in the score as the Wildcats went to the locker room with a 24-22 lead. To the dismay of the Fighting Illini, Kentucky had just 2 team fouls going into the final few minutes of the 2nd half, an “advantage” to having a NCAA Tournament game at home. And with 14 seconds left, Dicky Beal made 2 clutch free-throws to seal the victory and the 9th Final Four berth for Kentucky with a 54-51 win. The game ended up getting a lot of controversy with the foul calling of the refs, considering that it was at Kentucky’s home court. As a result, the NCAA changed the rules to where no team can play on their home court in the NCAA Tournament. It was still a great victory for the Wildcats and head coach Joe B. Hall. Kentucky ended up with a 29-5 record, a #3 ranking in the final AP Poll, and a loss to Georgetown in the Final Four. The Fighting Illini ended the season with a 26-5 record and a #6 ranking in the final AP Poll. To this day it remains the last time that Kentucky and Illinois have faced each other in men’s basketball.
- Kentucky’s Leading Scorer: Sam Bowie and Jim Master, 11 points
- Illinois’ Leading Scorer: Doug Altenberger, 19 points
- Stat Of The Game: Both teams shot over 50% from the field. UK made 25 of their 40 attempts (62.5%) and Illinois made 25 of their 49 attempts (51%).
#2: December 15th, 1979: #5 Kentucky – 69 #1 Indiana – 58 (Attendance: 23,798)
Both the Hoosiers and Wildcats were coming off disappointing seasons, to their standards. Kentucky finished the 1978-1979 season with a 19-12 record and an opening round loss in the NIT. Indiana finished the season with a 22-12 record, but ended up winning the NIT. And head coach Bobby Knight had dominated UK in recent times leading up to that game, winning 7 of the previous 10 meetings between the two schools. Add the fact that the two schools were border rivals and both teams were ranked in the top 5 of the AP Poll, with IU being the top-ranked team in the country, the game was going to be a heated battle. The Hoosiers came out from the opening tip proving to the country that they were worthy of the nation’s #1 ranking, but Kentucky kept it close throughout the half and headed into the locker room down 3 points, 39-36. But, Kentucky came out of the locker room with a lot of fight and hunger for a win over the hated Hoosiers and proved it in their 2nd half play. The Wildcats outscored the Hoosiers 33-19 to blow open a close game and earn a victory over the #1 team in the country, 69-58. It was the first time that UK had defeated a team ranked #1 in the AP Poll at Rupp Arena, and it remains the only victory over a non-conference opponent ranked #1 in the AP Poll in Rupp Arena history (UK defeated #1 Florida in 2003). Kentucky finished the 1979-1980 season with a 29-6 record, a #4 ranking in the final AP Poll, and a Sweet Sixteen appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Indiana finished the season with a 21-8 record, a #7 ranking in the final AP Poll, and a Sweet Sixteen appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
- Kentucky’s Leading Scorer: Kyle Macy, 12 points
- Indiana’s Leading Scorer: Ray Tolbert and Mike Woodson, 16 points
- Stat Of The Game: The Hoosiers shot just 34.7% from the field, making just 17 of their 49 attempts. They actually made more free-throws (24) than field goals (17).
#1: December 9th, 1978: #10 Kentucky – 67 #5 Kansas – 66 (Overtime) (Attendance: 23,472)
Kentucky enjoyed yet another successful campaign in the previous season, finishing with a 30-2 record and the school’s 5th national title in 1977-1978. The Kansas Jayhawks had a 24-5 record and an opening round loss in the NCAA Tournament that season. But, even as defending national champions, Kansas came into Rupp as the higher ranked team, #5 in the AP Poll. Kentucky wasn’t a push-over themselves, ranked #10 in the AP Poll. The game, which took 45 minutes to decide a winner, is really only known for the final 31 seconds of the game. Kansas opened up with the early lead and kept the lead going into halftime, 35-28. But Kentucky clawed back in the 2nd half, outscoring Kansas 28-21 to force an overtime with the game tied at 56. But the final 31 seconds of overtime were magical and probably the greatest, improbable finish in Kentucky basketball history. The Jayhawks led the Wildcats 66-60 with 31 seconds left and the game appeared to be over for Kentucky. But then freshman Dwight Anderson became a living legend in the Bluegrass. He scored 4 quick points, his only 4 points of the game, to cut Kansas’ lead to 66-64. On the next play, Dwight stole the Jayhawks’ inbounds pass and fed the ball to Kyle Macy who made the game-tying shot, 66-66. Then, in a huge mental error, Kansas was called for a technical foul when they tried to call for a timeout that they didn’t have. With a chance to win the game, the Wildcats let Kyle Macy take the technical foul free-throw. Kyle knocked it down and the Wildcats capped off the school’s greatest final-minute comeback, winning 67-66 in overtime in a classic for the ages. Kentucky finished the 1978-1979 season with a 19-12 record and an opening round loss in the NIT. Kansas finished the season with an 18-11 record and no postseason tournament appearance.
- Kentucky’s Leading Scorer: Kyle Macy, 15 points
- Kansas’ Leading Scorer: Darnell Valentine, 27 points
- Stat Of The Game: Kansas had 4 players play at least 44 of the 45 minutes in the game.
There you have it, my countdown of the top 10 non-conference games in Rupp Arena history. Hopefully many of you out there in Wildcat Blue Nation will enjoy reliving some of these games and can agree with the games I put in the list.