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Kentucky basketball to play Florida game like it’s do or die

For Kentucky basketball, these are desperate times in Big Blue Nation. Time for desperate measures.

Kentucky Cheerleaders - photo by Tammie Brown | WildcatWorld.com

Cheerleaders – photo by Tammie Brown | WildcatWorld.com

It's difficult to say which is bigger for the University of Kentucky basketball team in its regular-season finale against 11th-ranked on Saturday, the stakes or the challenge.

Coach , whose team is 3-3 without injured star Nerlens Noel, put it bluntly before Friday's practice: “This is a one-game season.”

The Wildcats (20-10, 11-6 Southeastern Conference) are coming off consecutive clunkers on the road and must beat the Gators — or win next week's league tournament — to have any security about making the NCAA Tournament. Florida (24-5, 14-3) has already clinched the regular-season title and clobbered Kentucky by 17 points on Feb. 12 in Noel's final game.

These are desperate times in Big Blue Nation. Time for desperate measures.

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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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