Top Ten Memorable Sweet Sixteen Games in Kentucky Basketball History
By J Bill Sosh
No. 8 – 1996 – Kentucky 101 Utah 70
Kentucky Basketball won their sixth National Championship in 1996 with one of most dominant teams in the history of college basketball. Led by a host of future pros such as Tony Delk, Ron Mercer and, Antoine Walker the Wildcats finished 34-6, including a 25 game winning streak.
After being upset in the SEC Tournament championship game by Mississippi State, top-seeded UK quickly got their groove back by rolling past San Jose State and Virginia Tech in the first two rounds of the NCAA Midwest Regional.
Next up was fourth seeded University of Utah. The Utes were no slouch. They had won the Western Athletic Conference, were led by All-American Keith Van Horn and also had future long-time pro Andre Miller.
Cruising
But Utah coach Rick Majerus knew that his team faced quite a challenge. When his team went up against UK in the tournament a few years prior, he quipped, “They have all those McDonald’s All-Americans. We have four guys on our team who don’t even have a McDonald’s in their town.”
Big Rick was right. Playing at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, MN, the Wildcats led at halftime 56-34 and cruised to a 101-70 smashing of Utah. It was a typically balanced effort for Kentucky. Walker led in scoring with 19, Derek Anderson had 18, and Delk and Anthony Epps had 14 each.
Beating Utah in the NCAA tournament eventually became a rite of spring passage for Kentucky Basketball. In an 11 season stretch from 1993-2003, the Wildcats ended the Utes season five times, most painfully in the 1998 national championship game.