3 Memorable Matchups Between Kentucky and Indiana

There was a time when North Carolina and Duke was not the biggest rivalry in college basketball. That title belonged to Kentucky and Indiana. The border state foes faced off annually in the regular season for almost 50 straight years.

Traditionally a home-and-home, during the 90s and 00s the game alternated between the Hoosierdome and Freedom Hall, creating a raucous neutral-site atmosphere. You could split the crowd in half between Kentucky blue and Indiana Crimson. The once-heated rivalry has been idle for 14 years, leaving a generation of fans unaware of the bad blood between these two storied programs. The following three games will serve as a reminder of what this great rivalry used to be.

1975: Kentucky Ends an Undefeated Indiana Season

Some will describe this as the most satisfying Kentucky basketball win of their lifetime. My father falls in that category. I’ve heard the story about his trip to Dayton in 1975 so many times that I can recite it by heart, but I still enjoy listening to it every time.

Bob Knight and Joe B. Hall were friends. They went on fishing trips together in Eastern Kentucky. Hell, Knight even showed up to roast Hall during his 50th birthday. That’s what made it so perplexing when Knight slapped Hall on the back of the neck during the matchup at Assembly Hall in 1974.

Vengeance was on the mind of Joe B. and the rest of the Wildcats when they took the court against the undefeated Hoosiers in the 1975 Mideast Regional Final. Even though Indiana completed an undefeated campaign the following year, many will tell you that Knight’s 1975 team was better. They didn’t get the crown, thanks to the Wildcats.

The 6-foot-11 Kent Benson scored 33 points, but Kentucky’s two freshmen 6-foot-10 forwards — Mike Phillips and Rick Robey — were stout inside, helping the Cats force 20 Indiana turnovers. Robey and Kevin Grevey sparked an 8-0 run late in the second half, then Phillips scored six points down the stretch to put the game out of reach and end Indiana’s season.

2002: Mike Davis Channels Inner-Bob Knight

The Indiana basketball brand still had some cache in 2002. Hoosiers feared the program would implode after Knight got fired, but Mike Davis stepped in and did the unthinkable during his first season in Bloomington. The Hoosiers upset top-seeded Duke in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Rupp Arena, sparking a run that went all the way to the National Championship Game, where they ultimately fell to Juan Dixon’s Maryland squad.

Indiana lost star forward Jared Jeffries, but Tom Coverdale returned for the 2002-03 season, and the Hoosiers were ranked No. 6 and undefeated when they met No. 16 Kentucky at Freedom Hall in Louisville.

It was nip-and-tuck all night. Tubby Smith called a timeout with just over 20 seconds to go to draw up a play to give the Cats a lead. It worked to perfection. Marquis Estill ducked into the paint and scored a contested bucket with 12.7 seconds remaining.

Indiana’s Bracey Wright raced to the other end of the floor and drove hard to the rim. His potential game-winning shot was nowhere close, bouncing off the side of the backboard. Kentucky rebounded the ball and was quickly fouled.

That’s when Mike Davis lost his mind, and the Indiana basketball program fell off a cliff. The Indiana coach sprinted onto the middle of the court, tapping his head, begging for a foul call. Inconsolable and irate, the crowd erupted when he was ejected. Kentucky hit its technical free throws to win 70-64. The Wildcats won 26 straight games for arguably Tubby Smith’s best basketball team. Indiana has not played in an Elite Eight game since Davis spiraled out of control.

The Wat Shot

It would be a disservice to our readers to ignore the game that ended this series. Let me start by saying I was not there, so I cannot attest to how awful the Assembly Hall crowd was. What I can say is that it’s pretty lame to take your ball and go home after you get court-stormed. John Calipari got mad and ended a 46-year rivalry. That’s lame, just not as lame as Hoosier fans treat this game.

Tom Crean drew up a good play that got Christian Watford open for a picturesque buzzer-beater that handed Kentucky its first of only two losses during a National Championship campaign. It was such a well-executed play that it made people forget how Dick Vitale talked about Terrence Jones for two hours. “This is not the guy I picked to be Preseason All-American!”

Indiana celebrated their return to glory with popcorn boxes. Books were written. Nets were cut. The school that won a National Championship with a shot in the final seconds has turned The Wat Shot into their magnum opus, all while conveniently omitting that Kentucky ended Indiana’s season in a Sweet 16 shootout a few months later.

That’s why you can’t feel too bad that Calipari ended the series. These candy-cane dorks have no self-awareness as the once proud basketball blue blood withers away into futility.