Fightin' Words: Kentucky vs. Louisville by Joe Cox & Ryan Clark

Author:Joe Cox & Ryan Clark
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781613216705
Publisher: Sports Publishing
Published: 2014-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Kentucky 86

Chapter 15

Pitino’s Dream Team

No. 4 UK 89, No. 25 UofL 66

December 23, 1995 at Rupp Arena

AS THE 1995–96 season approached, Rick Pitino had one goal to accomplish. He had led UK back to the Final Four, had claimed a No. 1 ranking, and had garnered top recruiting classes. But it had been 17 years since the Cats had claimed college basketball’s ultimate prize, the NCAA championship. In the meanwhile, Denny Crum’s Cardinals had claimed two titles and made two additional Final Four appearances. Well-known Kentucky baiter John Feinstein, on National Public Radio just before the season tipped off, cracked that while Pitino had written two books and won no championships, he believed that the trend might change—if Pitino wrote a third book.

However, by the time the season began, it was apparent that Pitino had assembled one of the greatest teams in modern college basketball history. Six players from the squad went on to be NBA first-round draft picks, and three more Cats went on to play in the league. Kentucky had lost Rodrick Rhodes, guided out the door to Southern California by Pitino. However, they had replaced him with silky-smooth freshman forward Ron Mercer. Freshman guard Wayne Turner and junior transfer Derek Anderson were also new additions for the Wildcats. Seniors Tony Delk, Walter McCarty, and Mark Pope anchored the squad, with other talents like sophomore forward Antoine Walker and junior guards Anthony Epps and Jeff Sheppard helping the team. Not only was this Pitino’s most talented collegiate team, but also it was by far his deepest—as Kentucky’s second unit probably could’ve been a top-10 squad in their own right.

The Louisville Cardinals did not intend to go gently into the good night. Not only did Denny Crum’s team hold the victory in the series’s last meeting, but they also had an impressive array of talent. Kentucky killers Samaki Walker and DeJuan Wheat returned to wreak havoc on another UofL/UK matchup. Fearless perimeter players like Alvin Sims and Tick Rogers, and gritty shooter Brian Kiser, gave Louisville a fighting chance to pull a second consecutive Dream Game upset. However, the Cardinals missed forwards Jason Osborne and Alex Sanders, who were academically ineligible for the annual matchup.

Louisville entered the game with a solid 7-3 mark and No. 25 in the nation. Kentucky had begun the season as the nation’s top-ranked squad, but after a second-game upset loss to Massachusetts, keyed by All-America center Marcus Camby and a spry young head coach named John Calipari, UK had slipped in the polls. The 6-1 Wildcats were ranked No. 4, but anyone who witnessed them winning by 64 points over Morehead State a week before the Dream Game realized that Pitino’s team was showing signs of finding another gear.

For Pitino, a championship would mean vindication. His system of full-court pressure and three-point barrages had made bad teams good, but had failed to make good teams great. While he had taken Providence and Kentucky to the Final Four, he was 0-2 on college basketball’s biggest stage.

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