Top Ten Memorable Sweet Sixteen Games in Kentucky Basketball History
By J Bill Sosh
No. 10 – 1983 – Kentucky 64 Indiana 59
The first entry on our list makes the grade not so much for the game itself, but for its historical significance. The Wildcats found themselves in the Mideast Regional with about as many Kentucky connections (past, present and future) as possible. First of all, the games would be played at in Knoxville, TN at the Stokely Athletic Center. That gym was practically a house of horrors for Wildcat Coach Joe B. Hall. He only won one game there versus the Tennessee Volunteers over his 13 year career at the helm in Lexington.
The Cats would face off against the Indiana in the Sweet 16. At that time you could easily say the Hoosiers were their biggest on-court rival, certainly outside of SEC foes. The teams played a regular season game in December every year. IU had won that season’s renewal 62-59 in Bloomington. These teams and coaches had a history. Many long-time Cat fans make the case that Joe B’s biggest win at UK was not the 1978 National Championship game over Duke. They will tell you it came in the 1975 Mideast Regional final. There, Kentucky Basketball knocked off undefeated Indiana 92-90. That came after the infamous ‘head-slap’ incident with Hoosier coach Bobby Knight in the regular season game earlier, which was a blowout IU win.
A Matchup With Louisville on the Line?
The other Sweet 16 matchup in that region was Louisville versus Arkansas. UK and U of L hadn’t played since the 1959 NCAA tournament. Clamor for the teams to meet on a regular basis was growing within the state. Hopes for possible post-season clashes were dashed by Cardinal losses in the 1975 NCAA Final Four and in the 1976 NIT.
In 1982 a Kentucky Basketball loss to Middle Tennessee prevented a regional final tilt between the in-state rivals in Nashville. As for Arkansas, UK fans had no idea at the time that Razorback head coach Eddie Sutton would replace Hall as Wildcat head coach just two years later.
In the semis on March 24th, the third-seeded Cats got revenge for the regular season loss and knocked out the second-seeded Hoosiers 64-59. Melvin Turpin led the UK with 16 points, with freshman sensation Kenny Walker coming off the bench to add 13.
When Louisville came back from a big deficit to defeat Arkansas on a late tip-in, the stage was set for the long-awaited Dream Game. The Cardinals prevailed there and went to the Final Four. The events that weekend in Knoxville led to the regular season series between the Cats and Cards that began a few months later.