Kentucky Basketball's only tie? Kentucky Wesleyan

Here’s a fun fact to start your Friday with: there is only one tie in Kentucky Basketball history, and it happened against Kentucky Wesleyan, tonight’s opponent.

The game took place in February 1918 in Winchester, Kentucky Wesleyan’s home before moving to Owensboro in the 1950s. Wildly enough, both sides left the gym thinking Wesleyan had won 22-21; however, a scorer’s error was discovered 30 minutes after the game. According to the Big Blue History, Stanley A. Boles, Kentucky’s coach at the time, expressed doubt over whether one of Wesleyan’s free throws should have counted. When he confronted the referee, the referee admitted it shouldn’t have because he disallowed the free throw. The score changed to 21-21, but the Winchester Daily Democrat’s recap paints a different picture of the hotly contested moment.

Boles, the State Coach, then hunted Referee Burr, who admitted that he had disallowed one of Wesleyan’s throws in the second half. This can have no bearing on the official score of the game. Spalding’s Official Basket Ball Guide for 1918, Rule 6, section 10 covers this point. Wesleyan can and will claim this game. All reports coming out in the Lexington papers have been badly colored.

Winchester Daily Democrat, via BigBlueHistory.net

Kentucky leads the series 9-2-1, but who knew there was such bad blood simmering underneath the surface?