This One Was for You, Joe B.
Saturday was set to be the biggest game in Rupp Arena all season, as No. 18 Kentucky welcomed 22nd-ranked Tennessee for the 233rd meeting in the SEC’s oldest rivalry, one that dates to 1910.
But on Saturday morning, the Big Blue Nation woke up to the news that former men’s basketball head coach Joe B. Hall had passed away at age 93. The beloved coach had the unenviable task of following Adolph Rupp as the UK head coach. But Hall proved to be a much more than capable replacement.
During his 13 seasons as the head coach of the Cats, Hall had a 297-100 record. He won the 1978 NCAA championship, was the 1975 NCAA runner-up and also took Kentucky to the Final Four in 1984. The Cynthiana native was a four-time SEC coach of the year and was national coach of the year in 1978.
Kentucky’s opponent on Saturday could not have been more fitting. During Hall’s UK tenure, there was no rival bigger to the Cats than Tennessee. Hall’s teams battled the likes of Bernard King, Ernie Grunfeld and Dale Ellis, among others, during his 13 seasons.
The tributes to Hall were countless on Saturday. When UK head coach John Calipari came out of the locker room prior to the game, he did so with a rolled game program in his hand, something that became a Hall signature during his tenure. A tribute video was played on the scoreboard just before the starting lineups. Then, when Tennessee opened the game with the ball, the Cats showed a 1-3-1 zone, something that Hall’s teams would often employ to change the tempo of a game.
As for the tributes to Hall, UK head coach Calipari knew it was a way to honor the former UK head man against one of his biggest rivals.
“I should have prepared, but do you prepare the 1-3-1 before something happens? I don’t like that karma,” Calipari said. “So, I waited and it was after the shootaround that we had this morning, but I was going to do it knowing they’d probably score a basket, but so what. This was a celebration for Coach Hall, the rolled-up program which I will bring out to every game this year to finish it out.”
Once the game started, the Cats were locked in from the very start. Kentucky hit 14 of its first 18 shots from the floor but Tennessee hung around by making five of its first seven from behind the arc. The Cats would make 22 of their 28 shots (78.6 percent) in the first half on the way to a 52-38 lead at the break.
Kentucky’s onslaught continued in the second half as the Cats led by as many as 32 before winning 107-79. It was a perfect tribute to Hall. It was also the first time since Feb. 14, 2001 that UK has scored 100 points against UT (a 103-95 win in Knoxville). The 28-point win was UK’s biggest in the series since a 92-60 win over the Vols in 2004. The 107 points were the most the Cats have scored in any game this season. And it was the most points ever allowed by a Rick Barnes-coached team at Tennessee.
UK point guard Sahvir Wheeler could feel a special spirit in the air on Saturday.
“We definitely had an energy, a spirit in the air that we were going to do something special tonight for a great coach who was here who accomplished really good things,” Wheeler said.
While much of the outstanding play might be attributed to Hall on this day, Calipari also knew that this was a big game for his team.
“It was a game we wanted to win, and it’s a ranked opponent,” Calipari said. “We were so good offensively passing it, extra plays, they stretched out their defense, and we’re a driving, shoot, floater kind of team. That’s what we are. And it kind of worked in our favor.”
But Hall was the focus of the day. Calipari will always have vivid, fond memories of his friend and mentor.
“All I can tell you is he’s a mentor and a friend to me over my 13 years,” Calipari said. “I know going to breakfast with him at Wheeler’s and lunch with him at the Methodist church and making him pay and him — every time — I had to pay — what? I’m just going to miss him. I’ll say this: To the very end, he smiled. He smiled. 93 good years. That’s all I can say.”
Hall was, without a doubt, smiling down on Rupp Arena today as his beloved Cats beat his biggest rival handily.
