Seven Years Ago Today: 'Cats down Louisville in Indy to advance to Elite 8

During the John Calipari era at Kentucky, fans have been given a bevy of great moments during the NCAA Tournament. Sure, you have the obvious choices of the 2012 title game, Brandon Knight’s shot against Ohio State, Aaron Harrison’s daggers during the tournament run, and even Tyler Herro against Houston.

To me, one of my favorite moments that didn’t come as a buzzer-beater or an Elite Eight/Final Four game was the 2014 Sweet 16 matchup against Louisville.

On this date seven years ago, coming off the heels of an upset win over the previously undefeated Wichita State, it was the second Kentucky-Louisville NCAA Tournament game in three years–and it sure was sweet.

Aaron Harrison’s run of shots between the Michigan and Wisconsin game will go down in Kentucky history, but the Louisville one is the one most forgotten among the three.

To put you back in the moment, Louisville was up 68-67 with less than 45 seconds to play. Julius Randle drove into the post and pulled defenders on the double team. That left Aaron Harrison wide open in the corner for a dagger three to give Kentucky the lead; one they would not give back.

The game could not have started much worse for Kentucky. Louisville opened on an 18-5 run to start the contest along while big man Willie Cauley-Stein left with an ankle injury.

After Cauley-Stein went to the bench, the ‘Cats were able to bring it to within three at the half before each team went back and forth for the remainder of the second half. Clutch free throws down the stretch helped Kentucky come away with the 74-69 win.

Julius Randle had 15 points and 12 rebounds, but it was Dakari Johnson who also added 15 that proved to be a huge difference in the game.

This game was the pinnacle of the Calipari-Pitino feud and the Kentucky-Louisville rivalry. The video above shows their postgame handshake where Pitino seems to shy away from much conversation with the UK head coach.

Of course, Kentucky parlayed this win into wins over Michigan in the Elite Eight and Wisconsin in the Final Four before losing to UConn in the National Championship game.

This run to the tournament will probably go down as one of my all-time favorites that didn’t end in a title. The group was clearly oozing with potential and put it together at the right time. What I wouldn’t give to have that championship game played one more time. What would this program look like?

To relive the entire game from seven years ago today, you can visit the video below. Is there a better way to spend a Sunday?

What a moment. What a game.