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Kentucky hangs on for 72-69 win over Terps

Jarrod Polson - photo by Tammie Brown | WildcatWorld.com

– photo by Tammie Brown | WildcatWorld.com

Junior guard Jarrod Polson scored 10 points – three more than he had in his career at – and made the clinching free throws with 7.7 seconds to play as the third-ranked Wildcats held off a furious second-half rally by for a 72-69 victory Friday night.

, a sophomore, led Kentucky with 19 points in the second game of the Barclays Center Classic, the first college basketball games played in the new arena in Brooklyn. , the only one of the four freshmen in Kentucky's heralded recruiting class to score in double figures, had 16 points for the defending national champions.

Seven-foot-1 sophomore Alex Len led Maryland with 23 points and 12 rebounds, both career highs. His rare three-point play – he made the first free throw then rebounded his own miss of the second – brought the Terrapins within 70-69 with 8.9 seconds left.

Polson was fouled with 7.7 seconds left and made two free throws for a 72-69 lead.

Maryland's Pe'Shon Howard missed the final shot but it was only a 2-point attempt.

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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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