Top Ten Memorable Sweet Sixteen Games in Kentucky Basketball History
By J Bill Sosh
No. 9 – 1992 – Kentucky 87 Massachusetts 77
The story of the next game on our list includes another coach who would later be in charge of the Cats. In 1992 Kentucky Basketball was in the tournament for the first time since since 1988 following the disintegration of the Eddie Sutton era and subsequent probation. Rick Pitino’s third UK team would go down in history as The Unforgettables.
Led by a group of seniors that hung on during the hard times and sophomore star Jamal Mashburn, this team captured the imagination of the Big Blue nation. They had won the SEC tournament and knocked off Old Dominion and Iowa State in the first two rounds of the NCAA’s.
The second-seeded Cats arrived in Philadelphia to meet third seeded University of Massachusetts. That UMass team was coached by a young fellow of whom you may have heard. Name of John Calipari. The future Kentucky head coach was in his fourth year at the helm of the Minutemen. The teams had met in December earlier in the season, with Kentucky winning 90-69 in Rupp Arena.
The Game
The teams faced off in the Spectcrum on March 26th. Led by Mashburn, who had 30 points in the game, the Cats jumped out to a 37-16 lead. UMass cut that deficit to 50-42, ending the half in spectacular fashion with a 70-foot three pointer at the buzzer by JIm McCoy. The game continued to tighten in the second half, with UMass getting within a bucket at 70-68 with six minutes.
That’s when things took a turn for the controversial. Kentucky retained possession after a missed three, and Calipari argued for an over the back foul call on the Cats’ Sean Woods. Although his protest didn’t appear to be overly strenuous, he drew a technical foul. Richie Farmer hit both of the technical free throws and then Deron Feldhaus hit a layup. UMass never got back in the game and the Cats won 87-77.
Although never confirmed, it was reported that the officials had assessed the game-turning technical on Cal for the rare ‘outside the coaches box’ violation. Adding to the intrigue was the notion that the referees were particularly attuned to that call because of complaints by Iowa State that Pitino had done the same thing in the prior round.
This win propelled Kentucky Basketball into the 1992 East Regional final against defending national champion and #1 Duke. You may have heard of that game, too.
Information obtained from Joe Burris, Boston Globe, “Kentucky Ends Dream for UMass” 3/27/92