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Rowdy Rupp Arena crowd helped boost Kentucky Wildcats

John Calipari made a simple request: If you were going to the UK vs Florida game Saturday to root on the Kentucky Wildcats, stand at the 8-minute mark…

Rowdy Rupp - photo by Tammie Brown | WildcatWorld.com

Rowdy Rupp – photo by Tammie Brown | WildcatWorld.com

stood, the Wildcats won and the Gators fell.  On Friday Kentucky coach  made of his 1,232,696 Twitter followers a simple request: If you were going to the vs. game Saturday, stand at the under-eight-minute media timeout and stay on your feet the rest of the game.

After Scottie Wilbekin hit a three-pointer with 7:36 to play in the game, pushing Florida's lead to seven points, Calipari took a timeout – and the fans answered his call.

For the remainder of the game, almost everyone in Rupp Arena stood. With UK's season on the line, the fans propelled the Wildcats to a 61-57 win.

“Unbelievable…,” Calipari said of Saturday's crowd.

Read full article here.

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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