Most teams have one rival on their schedule each season, but not the University of Kentucky. There’s Louisville, there’s Indiana, there’s Tennessee and any other Southeastern Conference program that tries to challenge UK’s supremacy (LSU in the 80s and early 90s and Florida in the past decade).
And then there’s North Carolina, the team the Wildcats will face in Chapel Hill, N.C., this Saturday.
UK and UNC are college basketball’s two winningest programs, but rather than going back and forth with each other, the head-to-head series has featured several streaks. Kentucky won last year to end a five-year run of UNC victories and that followed four straight wins by the Cats, which followed six consecutive UNC triumphs.
As we eagerly await the latest renewal in this matchup that became an annual event starting in the 2000-01 season, let’s take a look back at the five most memorable Wildcat wins in this series. UNC leads the all-time series 21-11:
No. 1 | December 1974 | UK 90, UNC 78
These rankings are strictly subjective and I chose this one because of its significance to the Kentucky season in 1974-75.
Jimmy Dan Conner, Kevin Grevey, etc. had been undefeated as freshmen (only sophomores and above could play for the varsity at that time), but that group had not been able to realize the potential the Big Blue fan base felt they had. And when Indiana drilled the Cats and then North Carolina built a big early lead in a game at Freedom Hall, it looked like the season was going south in a hurry.
Coach Joe B. Hall benched his starters and then challenged them to show him something when they returned to the game. Did they ever. Conner had arguably his best game as a Wildcat (15-of-21 field goals and 35 points) as UK stormed back to win 90-78. It proved to be a defining moment for that team which finished as the national runner-up come March.
No. 2 | December 2001 | UK 79, UNC 59
This was a Kentucky team that failed to realize its potential and it was a down year for the Tar Heels, but what makes this game memorable is how it started.
Tayshaun Prince hit five consecutive 3-pointers for UK in the first two minutes on his way to a 31-point day. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard Rupp Arena louder than when he swished the fifth one from 30-plus feet. It remains one of the top moments in Rupp’s history.
No. 3 | December 1969 | UK 94, UNC 87
Kentucky was ranked No. 2 in the nation even after losing star guard Mike Casey to a season-ending broken leg. The Dan Issel-Mike Pratt combo would lead the Wildcats to the top ranking going into the NCAA Tournament and this early season win over the Charlie Scott-led Tar Heels in Charlotte, N.C., sent an early message to the rest of the country by ending a streak of four straight losses by UK in the series.
Issel poured in 41 points and Pratt added 27 and both had double figures in rebounds.
No. 4 | December 2009 | UK 68, UNC 66
John Wall keyed a 28-2 explosion early in the game as the Wildcats built a 43-28 halftime lead, but when Wall started to cramp up the Tar Heels rallied. Clutch free-throw shooting by Wall and Eric Bledsoe enabled the Cats to hold UNC at bay.
To me, the significance of this game was that it more or less announced to the college basketball world that Kentucky was back among the nation’s elite.
No. 5 | January 2004 | UK 61, UNC 56
Arguably the best game of the past decade as Kentucky won its fourth game in a row over the Heels.
Carolina built a 10-point second-half lead but UK rallied with a spark off the bench from Ravi Moss and Bernard Cote, setting the stage for Gerald Fitch’s late-game heroics.
Fitch was a great clutch shooter, and with a half minute left to play and only 11 seconds on the shot clock for an out-of-bounds play, Tubby Smith drew up a play to send Fitch off a screen for a jumper off the wing. Sean May challenged the shot, but Fitch stepped back and coolly drained the 3 to clinch the victory for UK.
Only one of the five games on our list took place in the state of North Carolina, so perhaps the Wildcats can add to that total this Saturday at the Dean Dome.
