Best of UK in the NCAA: Sweet 16 Highlights

MrsTylerKSR

Another weekend of March Sadness is upon us. To help you get through it, KSR is bringing you highlights of Kentucky’s NCAA Tournament games over the past 30 years. Today, we will relive the Sweet 16 memories.

1992: No. 2 Kentucky 87, No. 3 UMass 77

Thursday, March 26, 1992

Rick Pitino and the Unforgettables beat John Calipari’s UMass Minutemen in the Sweet 16 to set up the greatest college basketball game of all time. The Cats jumped out to a 21-point lead early on, but UMass stormed back to cut that lead to two with less than six minutes left. From there, John Calipari drew a technical from a ref all the way across the floor (you can see it below at the 1:21:45 mark), which prompted an 11-2 run by Kentucky to put the game out of reach. Jamal Mashburn finished with 30 points and John Pelphrey 18.

1993: No. 1 Kentucky 103, No. 5 Wake Forest 69

Thursday, March 25, 1993

The Cats stormed out to a 20-4 lead in the opening minutes, prompting CBS to switch to a different game, per Dr. J’s UK Newsletter. Kentucky led 60-26 at halftime. After scoring 23 points, Jamal Mashburn rested the final ten minutes. Travis Ford had a game-high 26 points off 10-11 field goals.

Highlights:

Complete game:

1995: No. 1 Kentucky 97, No. 5 Arizona State 73

Thursday, March 23, 1995

Tony Delk led the Cats past the Sun Devils with 26 points off 11-18 from the floor, followed by Rodrick Rhodes with 16 and Andre Riddick with 15. Kentucky had 27 assists and 12 steals to only ten turnovers.

“We played a great game tonight,” Pitino said, via The New York Times. “We had tremendous respect for them because on film they were scary in transition. That respect made us play better. I don’t know who to single out. Everyone played great.”

1996: No. 1 Kentucky 101, No. 4 Utah 70

Thursday, March 21, 1996

Man, Kentucky sure has played Utah a lot in the tournament, haven’t they? The Untouchables cruised to another easy win, beating Utah by 31 points to advance to play Wake Forest in the Elite Eight. Just over 10 minutes into the game, the score was 40-19. This win was Kentucky’s 1,647th, tying them with North Carolina for the most in NCAA history. Four players finished in double figures: Antoine Walker (19), Derek Anderson (18), Tony Delk (14) and Anthony Epps (14).

“We played hard,” Utah Coach Rick Majerus said. “Kentucky is just the likes of which we have never seen before.”

1997: No. 1 Kentucky 83, No. 4 Saint Joseph’s 68

Thursday, March 20, 1997

Ron Mercer and Cameron Mills had 19 points each in Kentucky’s 15-point win over the St. Joseph’s Hawks. The Cats were without Allen Edwards, who suffered a stress fracture in his ankle, and there was another injury scare when Scott Padgett went down and looked to be in considerable pain. Thankfully, it was just a minor sprain.

1998: No. 2 Kentucky 94, No. 6 UCLA 68

Friday, March 20, 1998

Kentucky took control early, jumping out to an 11-2 lead, and never looked back. Five players scored in double figures, led by Scott Padgett with 19, Jeff Sheppard with 16, and Nazr Mohammed with 15. Kentucky blocked 14 shots, a regional record, and the Cats advanced, setting up a long-awaited rematch with Duke in the Elite Eight.

1999: No. 3 Kentucky 58, No. 10 Miami (OH) 43

Friday, March 19, 1999

Wally Szczerbiak was America’s darling, scoring 67 points over the previous two games, including 43 in the Miami’s upset of Washington, but Kentucky was just too good for the Redhawks. Scott Padgett scored 17 points, 14 in the second half, to push the Cats to the Elite Eight. Heshimu Evans had 11 points and 7 rebounds.

2001: No. 6 USC 80, No. 2 Kentucky 76

Thursday, March 22, 2001

Keith Bogans and Jason Parker combined for 55 points to try to bring Kentucky back from a 43-24 halftime deficit, but it wasn’t meant to be. Behind David Bluthenthal’s 27 points, including several clutch threes and free throws, Southern Cal pulled off the upset to advance to play Duke in the Elite Eight.

Remember, we have a no-highlights-of-losses policy here, but you can find the footage if you want to torture yourself.

2002: No. 1 Maryland 78, No. 4 Kentucky 68

Friday, March 22, 2002

The Cats got the early lead before Maryland took over behind dominant performances from Juan Dixon, Lonny Baxter, and Chris Wilcox. Kentucky just couldn’t get going, missing several opportunities to get back in the game, which ended up being Tayshaun Prince’s final as a Wildcat.

“It was more of what we didn’t do,” Tubby Smith said. “We didn’t take advantage of a couple of fast-break opportunities and turned the ball over two or three straight times. That just took the wind out of our sails. You could tell the guys started to show some doubt at that point.”

2003: No. 1 Kentucky 63, No. 5 Wisconsin 57

Thursday, March 27, 2003

Keith Bogans went down with a high ankle sprain three minutes into the game, but Kentucky was able to hang on for the win thanks to 28 points and six rebounds from Marquis Estill. He was the only Cat to score in double figures.

Unfortunately, the footage of this game I had has been marked private by the YouTube user.

2005: No. 2 Kentucky 63, No. 6 Utah 52

Friday, March 25, 2005

Shagari Alleyne and Lukasz Obrzut teamed up to shut down Andrew Bogut, and although Utah’s All-American center scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, he missed eight of his first ten shots and was only 4-11 from the free-throw line. Meanwhile, Kentucky shot a season-best 62%. Ten Cats scored, led by Chuck Hayes with 12 and Rajon Rondo with 10.

Unfortunately, the footage of this game I had has been marked private by the YouTube user.

2010: No. 1 Kentucky 62, No. 12 Cornell 45

Thursday, March 25, 2010

This ain’t no spelling bee! With almost the entire nation rooting for Cornell to pull off the upset, Kentucky bullied its way to a 17-point win in the Carrier Dome. The Big Red jumped out to a 10-2 lead, but the Cats clawed back with stingy defense and an impressive performance by the frontcourt. DeMarcus Cousins led the way with 16 points and 7 rebounds, followed by Eric Bledsoe with 12. Patrick Patterson came up just shy of a double-double with nine points and 12 rebounds.

Highlights:

Complete game:

2011: No. 4 Kentucky 62, No. 1 Ohio State 60

Friday, March 25, 2011

One of the best tournament wins of the Calipari Era. Brandon Knight’s 15-footer with five seconds left gave Kentucky the 62-60 victory over the No. 1 Buckeyes, but I’ll always remember this game for Josh Harrellson’s performance. Jorts finished with a team-high 17 points, 10 rebounds, and one epic shot right to Jared Sullinger’s chest:

DeAndre Liggins had 15 points, the only other Cat to finish in double figures. His defense down the stretch was phenomenal. Kentucky held Ohio State to just 32% shooting.

Highlights:

Complete game:

2012: No. 1 Kentucky 102, No. 4 Indiana 90

Friday, March 23, 2012

Sweet, sweet revenge. Five Cats scored in double figures, led by Michael Kidd-Gilchrist with 24 points and Doron Lamb with 21. Hampered by foul trouble, Anthony Davis had a relatively quiet night with nine points and 12 rebounds, but it didn’t end up mattering. The Cats got the 102-90 win, one that actually mattered.

First half highlights:

Complete game:

2014: No. 8 Kentucky 74, No. 4 Louisville 69

Friday, March 28, 2014

Aaron Harrison’s three with 39 seconds left gave the Cats the lead and clutch free throws from Harrison and Randle sealed the 74-69 win, Kentucky’s second over Louisville that season. Kentucky led for only 1:05 in this game and trailed by seven with 4:30 left, but made huge plays down the stretch despite losing Willie Cauley-Stein to an ankle injury early in the first half. Don’t forget Alex Poythress blocking Russ Smith’s layup during the 7-0 run that tied the game at 66 with 2:11 left.

Highlights:

Complete game:

2015: No. 1 Kentucky 78, No. 5 West Virginia 39

Thursday, March 26, 2015

I have a lot of favorite games from the 2015 season, but this one might be at the top. After West Virginia’s players talked trash and Daxter Miles predicted the Mountaineers would end Kentucky’s undefeated run, the Cats doubled the score in one of many impressive performances by this squad. It was 44-18 at halftime. Five Cats scored in double figures, led by Trey Lyles with 14; Andrew Harrison with 13; and Aaron Harrison, Devin Booker, and Dakari Johnson all with 12.

“They’re terrific defensively,” Bob Huggins said. “That’s the best defensive team I think that I’ve ever coached against. And when they’re making shots, and they made shots today, when they make shots, there’s nobody going to beat them when they make shots like that.”

Highlights:

Extended Highlights because it was that good:

2017: No. 2 Kentucky 86, No. 3 UCLA 75

Friday, March 24, 2017

Aka the De’Aaron Fox game. Fox scored a career-high 39 points, completely outplaying Lonzo Ball, who finished with only 10 points on 4-10 from the floor. Kentucky held UCLA, which was averaging 90 points a game, to 75, just one point shy of a season-low. Malik Monk came alive in the second half to finish with 21 points and Dominique Hawkins chipped in 11.

Highlights:

2018: No. 9 Kansas State 61, No. 5 Kentucky 58

Thursday, March 22, 2018

This game will be remembered for PJ Washington’s 8-20 mark from the free-throw line, but the Cats wouldn’t have had a chance without PJ’s 18 points and 15 rebounds. Kentucky shot a dismal 38% from the field, 25% from three, and turned the ball over 15 times. With the bracket opening up like never before, this one still stings.

2019: No. 2 Kentucky 62, No. 3 Houston 58

Friday, March 29, 2019

Tyler Herro hit a three with 25.8 seconds left to give the Cats the lead and sealed the victory with two free throws with 14 seconds left. PJ Washington returned from his foot injury and played through the pain for 26 minutes, scoring 16 points and making a crucial block to set up Herro’s three in the final minute.

Highlights: