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Kentucky Basketball

Kentucky giving back through hoops

DeMarcus Cousins - photo from Walter Cornett | WildcatWorld.com

DeMarcus Cousins – photo from Walter Cornett | WildcatWorld.com

The mix of nostalgia and basketball has a long-running history of success, and  is using that marriage to help benefit four charity organizations through the power of the Commonwealth's love affair with its flagship basketball program.  Kentucky will stage the Alumni Charity Game on Saturday, Sept. 15, which will pit recent alums against one another at Rupp Arena. Although names of the participants can't be released by the school, it is expected many of the same players who came back for last year's exhibition game of Kentucky alums against the Calipari-coached Dominican Republic National Team will return this year.  “The beginning of it was last year when we did the Dominican game when all of those guys said, ‘Hey, let's do something every year when we can all come back and get together,'” Calipari said Tuesday. “This is going to all be for charity. We're going to give out checks that night. We'll have a better idea what those checks (amounts) will be when we get an idea of the attendance. The money that is generated will be given out that night by the players directly to somebody.

 

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On This Day In UK Basketball History

On March 27, 1951, UK wins its third NCAA title, defeating Kansas State, 68-58, in the finals in Minneapolis.

 

On March 27, 1978, Jack “Goose” Givens scores 41 points as UK wins its fifth NCAA Championship, 94-88, over Duke in St. Louis.  Givens scored the last 16 points of the first half for Kentucky, bringing his first-half total up to 23 points. Givens poured in another 18 points in the second half.  Givens' helped lead the Wildcats to their first title in over 20 years.  More than 10,000 fans greet the team at Blue Grass Airport and 15,000 more celebrate at Memorial Coliseum

 

On March 27, 1993, Kentucky beat Florida State to advance to the NCAA Final Four in New Orleans. The victory completed a string of four games in which the Wildcats blitzed their Southeast Region opponents by an average of 31.0 points - the largest margin of victory by a team through four games en route to the Final Four.

 

On March 27, 2009, Billy Gillispie is fired as the Kentucky head basketball coach.

 

On March 27, 2011, freshman Brandon Knight scored 22 points and fourth-seeded Kentucky advanced to the Final Four for the first time since the 1998 title with a 76-69 win over second-seeded North Carolina in the East Regional final of the NCAA Tournament.  The last minute of the game became the DeAndre Liggins show, as he blocked a shot on defense, hit a game-winning three-pointer on offense, then blocked another shot on defense to seal the victory. He finished with 12 points..

 

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