'Valentine's Day Massacre' Turned the Tide for Comeback Cats

Love is not always associated with Valentine’s Day. An infamous 1929 duel between Chicago gangsters became known as the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre. Almost 70 years later there was a less tragic event that was labeled with a similar moniker in morning headlines. Tubby Smith’s seventh-ranked Kentucky Wildcats suffered a 73-64 loss to No. 18 Ole Miss on Valentine’s Day 1998.

Kentucky committed 21 turnovers at Rupp Arena in just the Wildcats’ second ever loss to Ole Miss in Lexington, the first since 1927. It was the third home loss of the season, something that had not been done since Eddie Sutton’s final year in Lexington. Tubby Smith was feeling heat from the BBN in his first season as head coach. His players responded and did not lose another game the rest of the season.

“We did get it turned around after that,” Tubby Smith said Monday night during an appearance on The John Calipari Show.

“I’m grateful for the leadership of that team. Guys like Jeff Sheppard, Allen Edwards and Wayne Turner, Cameron Mills…. They kind of took charge and that’s what you have to have and I know that’s what Cal is looking for with this group. You gotta have people stepping up in the locker room saying, ‘Hey, we’ve gotta come together, we gotta play the way coach wants us to play, we gotta stay disciplined. It’s a whole new season.’ I was so grateful to have those types of young men in our program.”

Similarities Between Kentucky Basketball Teams?

It’s a stretch to compare the Comeback Cats to John Calipari’s 2023 Kentucky basketball team. The loss to Ole Miss in ’98 was the fourth of the season. This team already has five SEC losses, reeling from a defeat at Georgia. However, each team is working with similar pieces who are not bonafide NBA talents.

“We had some good players, don’t get me wrong — Scott Padgett played in the NBA, Jamaal Magloire, Nazr — we had some good players. But we didn’t have McDonald’s All-Americans. We didn’t have All-American players on our team and they really over-achieved and did a super job I thought,” said Tubby Smith.

“It takes awhile, but they had been there before, so they were leading me along the way to show me, ‘Coach, this is what we need to be doing.’ I value those young men’s relationships and their leadership was so critical as we went on to win the National Championship.”

Tubby Smith will be in Lexington this weekend when UK celebrates the 25th anniversary of Kentucky’s seventh National Championship. Members of the 1996 and 97 squads have also been invited to the reunion. The only thing that can make that reunion even sweeter is a win over Tennessee to start a late-season run.