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Cats find identity with victory

Before Wednesday, it was difficult to gauge exactly how good this young Cats team was. It had beaten a top-20 Washington in Maui, only to be edged out by a 4-3 North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Wednesday night, the team would find out. UK head coach John Calipari stared at the scoreboard with four minutes to play in the first half against an undefeated Notre Dame. His team was in an 11-point hole as he sat his big men in favor of a smaller lineup and by the time the final seconds ran out on the opening half, the game was tied at 40.

Battle Cats

Battle Cats - photo by Andy Lyons | Getty

Before Wednesday, it was difficult to gauge exactly how good this young Cats team was. It had beaten a top-20 Washington in Maui, only to be edged out by a 4-3 North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Wednesday night, the team would find out.  head coach John Calipari stared at the scoreboard with four minutes to play in the first half against an undefeated . His team was in an 11-point hole as he sat his big men in favor of a smaller lineup and by the time the final seconds ran out on the opening half, the game was tied at 40.

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On This Day In UK Basketball History

On March 28, 1992, in what many called the “best NCAA Tournament game ever,” Kentucky takes defending NCAA champion Duke into overtime before losing 104-103 in the East Regional finals in Philadelphia. A last-second shot by Christian Laettner sends Duke to the Final Four, and breaks the hearts of Wildcat fans everywhere. It is Cawood Ledford’s last game as the “Voice of the Wildcats.”

 

On March 28, 1998, against Stanford, Kentucky rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit, then grabbed a 5-point overtime lead, before fending off the Cardinals to advance to the title game for the third straight season. Jeff Sheppard canned three long-range three-pointers - two in the final three minutes and one in overtime - en route to a career-high 27 points.

 

On March 28, 2014, unranked Kentucky beat No. 5 Louisville 74-69, in the 2014 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.  Aaron Harrison buried a three-pointer from the left corner with 39 seconds left that put UK ahead to stay before 41,072 in Lucas Oil Stadium.

 

On March 28, 2015, No. 1 Kentucky defeated No. 8 Notre Dame, 68-66, in the 2015 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.  With its 37-0 record on the line, Kentucky trailed Notre Dame 59-53 with 6:14 left. UK rallied in front of 19,464 fans in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena and preserved its perfect season thanks to a crucial blocked shot by Willie Cauley-Stein and two game-deciding free throws from Andrew Harrison in the final seconds.

 

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