Kentucky Men's Basketball NCAA Championships
1947-48 NCAA Champions
Kentucky
Player FG FTM FTA PF TP
Jones 4 1 1 3 9
Barker 2 1 3 4 5
Line 3 1 1 3 7
Groza 6 2 4 4 14
Holland 1 0 0 1 2
Beard 4 4 4 1 12
Rollins 3 3 5 3 9
Barnstable 0 0 1 0 0
Totals 23 12 19 19 58
Baylor
Player FG FTM FTA PF TP
Owen 2 1 2 0 5
DeWitt 3 2 4 3 8
Hickman 1 0 0 0 2
Pulley 0 1 1 0 1
Heathington 3 2 4 5 8
Preston 0 0 2 2 0
Johnson 3 4 7 5 10
Robinson 3 2 4 4 8
Brack 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 15 12 24 19 42
Halftime: UK 29, Baylor 16
Front Row: Coach Adolph Rupp, Johnny Stough, Ralph Beard,
Kenneth Rollins, Cliff Barker, Jr., Dale Barnstable, Asst. Coach Harry Lancaster.
Second Row: Manager Humzey Yessin, Garland Townes, Jim Jordan,
Joe Holland, Alex Groza, Wallace Jones, Jim Line, Roger Day, Trainer Wilbert
Bud Berger.
Kentucky 58, Baylor 42
March 23, 1948 - New York
Alex Groza and Ralph Beard combined for 26 points and the Wildcats' defense
held the Bears to 16 first-half points to capture UK's first NCAA title.
The title victory enabled the Wildcats to become only the second team ever
to win both the NIT and NCAA titles. UK, which finished the season at 34-2,
won the NIT title in 1946.
Paced by Groza and Beard, the Wildcats turned a 29-16 halftime lead into
a 44-28 bulge midway through the second half. After Baylor rallied to cut the
lead to 11, UK put the game out of reach as Wallace "Wah Wah" Jones scored
four points to give the Wildcats a 15-point lead.
In addition to Groza and Beard, the Wildcats also got nine points apiece
from Jones and Kenneth Rollins.
1948-49 NCAA Champions
Kentucky
Player FG FTM FTA PF TP
Jones 1 1 3 3 3
Line 2 1 2 3 5
Groza 9 7 8 5 25
Beard 1 1 2 4 3
Barker 1 3 3 4 5
Barnstable 1 1 1 1 3
Hirsch 1 0 0 1 2
Totals 16 14 19 21 46
Oklahoma A&M
Player FG FTM FTA PF TP
Yates 1 0 0 1 2
Bradley 0 3 5 3 3
Harris 3 1 1 5 7
Parks 2 3 4 5 7
Shelton 3 6 7 4 12
Jaquet 0 1 2 0 1
McArthur 0 2 2 1 2
Pilgrim 0 2 2 1 2
Smith 0 0 0 1 0
Totals 9 18 23 21 36
Halftime: UK 25, Oklahoma A&M 20
Front Row: Coach Adolph Rupp, Jim Line, Cliff Barker, John
Stough, Ralph Beard, Joe Hall, Garland Townes, Assistant Coach Harry Lancaster.
Back Row: Dale Barnstable, Walt Hirsch, Wallace Jones, Alex
Groza, Bob Henne, Roger Day, Mgr. Humzey Yessin.
Kentucky 46, Oklahoma A&M 36
March 26, 1949 - Seattle
Paced by Alex Groza's 25 points and a defense that limited the Aggies to
a mere nine field goals, the Wildcats were crowned NCAA Champions for the second
straight year.
Groza, a unanimous selection as the "Player of the Tournament," scored more
than twice as many points as any other player. A&M's Jack Shelton was the
game's only other player to score in double figures. He finished with 12 points.
The Aggies, coached by Hank Iba, led 5-2, but the Wildcats scored seven straight
points, five by Groza, and never trailed again as they took a 25-20 first-half
lead.
UK extended the lead to 31-21 early in the second half and coasted the rest
of the way.
1950-51 NCAA Champions
Kentucky
Player FG FTM FTA PF TP
Whitaker 4 1 0 2 9
Linville 2 4 8 5 8
Spivey 9 4 6 2 22
Ramsey 4 1 3 5 9
Watson 3 2 4 3 8
Hagan 5 0 2 5 10
Tsioropoulos 1 0 0 1 2
Totals 28 12 23 23 68
Kansas State
Player FG FTM FTA PF TP
Head 3 2 2 5 8
Stone 3 6 8 5 12
Hitch 6 1 1 5 13
Barrett 2 0 2 1 4
Iverson 3 1 2 3 7
Housey 2 0 0 3 4
Gibson 0 1 1 5 1
Upson 0 0 0 1 0
Knostman 1 1 2 1 3
Peck 2 0 1 1 4
Schuyler 1 0 1 1 2
Totals 23 12 20 31 58
Halftime: Kansas State 29, UK 27
Standing: Frank Ramsey, Shelby Linville, Bill Spivey, Roger
Layne, Lou Tsioropoulos, Read Morgan.
Seated: Coach Adolph Rupp, Cliff Hagan, C.M. Newton, Walt
Hirsch, Paul Lansaw, Dwight Price, Assistant Coach Harry Lancaster.
Bottom Row: Lindle Castle, Lucian Whitaker, Bobby Watson,
Guy Strong, T. Riddle.
Kentucky 68, Kansas State 58
March 27, 1951 - Minneapolis
Bill Spivey scored 22 points and an ailing Cliff Hagan sparked the Wildcats
to their third NCAA title.
With a squad consisting of only six healthy players - Walt Hirsch was ineligible
and Hagan was plagued by an infected throat - the Wildcats hardly looked like
championship material as Kansas State broke out to a 20-12 lead.
It was then that Rupp inserted the ailing Hagan. It was a move that may have
proved the difference as the freshman forward sparked a rally that saw UK cut
the Kansas State lead to 29-27 at the half.
Led by Hagan and Spivey, who dominated the boards, UK outscored Kansas State
41-29 in the second half to complete the come-from-behind victory.
1957-58 NCAA Champions
Kentucky
Player FGM FGA FTM FTA REB PF TP
Crigler 5 12 4 7 14 4 14
Cox 10 23 4 4 16 3 24
Beck 0 1 0 1 3 4 0
A. Smith 2 8 3 5 6 4 7
Hatton 9 20 12 15 3 3 30
Mills 4 9 1 4 5 3 9
Totals 30 73 24 36 47 21 84
Seattle
Player FGM FGA FTM FTA REB PF TP
Prizzell 4 6 8 11 5 3 16
Brown 6 17 5 7 5 5 17
Baylor 9 32 7 9 19 4 25
Harney 2 5 0 1 1 1 4
Saunders 0 2 0 0 2 3 0
Ogorek 4 7 2 2 11 5 10
Plasecki 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 25 69 22 30 43 21 72
Halftime: Seattle 39, UK 36
Front Row: Coach Adolph Rupp, Adrian Smith, John Crigler, Ed Beck,
Don Mills, Johnny Cox, Vernon Hatton, Assistant Coach Harry Lancaster.
Second Row: Student Manager Jay Atkerson, Earl Adkins, Billy Smith,
Phil Johnson, Bill Cassady, Lincoln Collinsworth and Harold Ross
Kentucky 84, Seattle 72
March 22, 1958 - Louisville
Senior Vernon Hatton scored 30 points and the Wildcats overcame a 25-point,
19-rebound performance by Elgin Baylor to capture their fourth NCAA championship.
Led by Hatton and Johnny Cox, who finished with 24 points, the Wildcats twice
battled back from 11-point deficits to gain the victory.
Trailing for much of the game, UK grabbed its first lead with 6:08 left when
Don Mills hit a hook shot to give the Wildcats a 61-60 lead. Moments later,
Cox hit a jump shot to make it 63-60 and UK never trailed again.
John Crigler added 14 points and 14 rebounds for the victors. Mills and Adrian
Smith finished with nine and seven points, respectively.
Aside from Baylor, Seattle received 17 points from Charley Brown and 16 from
Jerry Frizzell.
1977-78 NCAA Champions
Kentucky
Player MIN FG FT REB A PF TP
Givens 37 18-27 5-8 8 3 4 41
Robey 32 8-11 4-6 11 0 2 20
Phillips 11 1-4 2-2 2 1 5 4
Macy 38 3-3 3-4 0 8 1 9
Claytor 24 3-5 2-4 0 3 2 8
Lee 20 4-8 0-0 4 2 4 8
Shidler 16 1-5 0-1 1 3 3 2
Aleksinas 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Williams 10 1-3 0-0 4 0 2 2
Cowan 8 0-2 0-0 2 0 1 0
Stephens 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Courts 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Gettelfinger 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Casey 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Team 0
Totals 200 39-68 16-25 32 20 26 94
Duke
Player MIN FG FT REB A PF TP
Banks 37 6-12 10-12 8 2 2 22
Dennard 30 5-7 0-0 8 2 5 12
Gminski 37 6-16 8-8 12 2 3 20
Harrell 24 2-2 0-0 0 1 3 4
Spanarkel 40 8-16 5-6 2 3 4 21
Suddath 9 1-3 2-3 2 0 1 2
Bender 17 1-2 5-5 1 4 3 7
Goetsch 6 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 0
Team 0
Totals 200 29-59 30-34 35 14 22 88
Technicals - Duke bench.
Halftime: UK 45, Duke 38
Front Row: Coach Joe Hall, Jay Shidler, Dwane Casey, Kyle
Macy, Jack Givens, Tim Stephens, Chris Gettelfinger, Truman Claytor, Assistant
Coach Dick Parsons.
Second Row: Assistant Trainer Walt McCombs, Manager Don Sullivan,
LaVon Williams, Scott Courts, Mike Phillips, Rick Robey, Chuck Aleksinas, Fred
Cowan, James Lee, Assistant Coach Leonard Hamilton, Assistant Coach Joe Dean
Jr.
Kentucky 94, Duke 88
March 27, 1978 - St. Louis
Senior Jack Givens put on one of the finest individual performances in NCAA
Championship history in leading the Wildcats past the Blue Devils.
With many Kentucky fans among the crowd of 18,271 chanting "Goose, Goose," Givens
scored 41 points, three short of the record for a championship game, to help
the Wildcats to their fifth NCAA title and first in 20 years.
Givens' dominance was clearly evident in the first half as he scored 23 points,
including UK's last 16 of the half, to turn a 29-28 UK lead into a 45-38 cushion.
It was a deficit from which the Blue Devils would not recover.
Overall, Givens made 18 of 27 field goal attempts, five of eight free throws
and added eight rebounds and three assists.
1995-96 NCAA Champions
Front Row: Assistant Coach Delray Brooks, Head Coach Rick
Pitino, Allen Edwards, Derek Anderson, Jeff Sheppard, Tony Delk, Anthony Epps,
Cameron Mills, Wayne Turner, Associate Coach Jim O'Brien, Assistant Coach Winston
Bennett.
Standing: Equipment Manager Bill Keightley, Administrative
Assistant George Barber, Jason Lathrem, Oliver Simmons, Nazr Mohammed, Mark
Pope, Walter McCarty, Antoine Walker, Jared Prickett, Ron Mercer, Trainer Eddie
Jamiel, Assistant Strength Coach Layne Kaufman, Strength Coach Shaun Brown.
Kentucky
Player MIN FG 3FG FT REB F A TO B S TP
Anderson 16 4-8 1-1 1-1 4 2 1 2 0 3 11
Walker 32 4-12 0-1 3-6 9 2 4 0 0 4 11
McCarty 19 2-6 0-0 0-0 7 3 3 1 0 0 4
Delk 37 8-20 7-12 1-2 7 2 2 3 1 2 24
Epps 35 0-6 0-3 0-0 4 1 7 1 0 0 0
Pope 27 1-6 0-2 2-2 3 3 2 4 0 1 4
Mercer 24 8-12 3-4 1-1 2 3 2 0 0 1 20
Sheppard 7 1-2 0-1 0-1 2 3 0 3 0 0 2
Edwards 3 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0
Team 2
Totals 200 28-73 12-27 8-13 40 19 22 15 1 11 76
Syracuse
Player MIN FG 3FG FT REB F A TO B S TP
Burgan 39 7-10 3-5 2-5 8 5 1 5 0 1 19
Wallace 38 11-19 2-3 5-5 10 5 1 6 1 0 29
Hill 28 3-9 0-0 1-1 10 2 1 3 1 0 7
Sims 39 2-5 1-4 1-2 2 2 7 7 0 1 6
Cipolla 35 3-8 0-3 0-0 1 1 2 2 0 4 6
Reafsnyder 13 0-1 0-0 0-0 4 0 0 1 0 0 0
Janulis 8 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
Nelson 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Team 1
Totals 200 26-52 6-15 9-13 38 17 12 24 2 6 67
Halftime: UK 42, Syracuse 33
Kentucky 76, Syracuse 67
April 1, 1996 - East Rutherford, N.J.
Tony Delk tied a championship game record with seven three-pointers and the
Wildcats withstood a late Orangemen rally to win UK's sixth national title
before a capacity crowd of 19,229 in the Continental Airlines Arena at the
Meadowlands.
Delk, the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player, canned seven of 12 three-pointers
to lead the Cats with 24 points. But after Syracuse had cut the lead to two,
64-62, with 4:46 remaining, a Delk misfire was tipped in by Walter McCarty
to extend UK's lead to four. After holding the Orangemen on the next possession,
Derek Anderson drained a three to push the lead to seven. SU would get no closer
than five in the final minutes.
Delk was joined on the Final Four All-Tournament team by freshman Ron Mercer,
who was sensational off the bench, scoring a career-high 20 points on 8-12
shooting from the field, including 3-4 from three-point range.
1997-98 NCAA Champions
Front Row: (L-R) Assistant CoachMike Sutton, Head Coach Orlando "Tubby" Smith,
Saul Smith, Cameron Mills, Jeff Sheppard, Wayne Turner, Steve Masiello, Assistant
Coach George Felton, Assistant Coach Shawn Finney.
Standing: Special Assistant Leon Smith, Administrative Assistant
Simeon Mars, Equipment Manager Bill Keightley, Ryan Hogan, Heshimu Evans, Scott
Padgett, Nazr Mohammed, Jamaal Magloire, Michael Bradley, Myron Anthony, Allen
Edwards, Trainer Eddie Jamiel, Strength Coach Tom Boyd.
Kentucky
Player MIN FG 3FG FT REB F A TO B S TP
Edwards 24 2-7 0-3 0-0 1 0 5 0 0 1 4
Padgett 33 6-11 1-5 4-4 5 4 1 0 0 0 17
Mohammed 13 5-9 0-0 0-0 2 4 0 1 2 0 10
Turner 27 2-5 0-1 2-4 4 0 4 5 0 3 6
Sheppard 34 7-14 0-2 2-2 4 1 3 2 0 2 16
Magloire 22 2-3 0-0 3-3 2 4 1 0 3 0 7
Evans 23 3-4 2-2 2-2 6 1 0 3 1 1 10
Mills 12 2-4 2-4 2-2 0 0 1 0 0 0 8
Smith 7 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bradley 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Team 1
Totals 200 29-57 5-17 15-17 24 15 15 11 6 7 78
Utah
Player MIN FG 3FG FT REB F A TO B S TP
Mottola 28 4-10 1-3 6-6 8 4 0 3 0 0 15
Jensen 35 5-6 1-1 3-3 2 2 2 1 0 0 14
Doleac 34 5-12 1-1 4-6 10 2 1 1 2 3 15
Miller 37 6-15 0-3 4-7 6 5 5 8 0 2 16
Hansen 32 1-6 0-2 0-0 5 2 1 2 0 3 2
Johnsen 16 3-4 1-2 0-0 4 0 0 3 0 0 7
McTavish 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0
Jackson 10 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0
Caton 5 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Team 4
Totals 200 24-55 4-14 17-22 39 18 12 18 2 8 69
Halftime: Utah 41, UK 31
Kentucky 78, Utah 69
March 30, 1998 - San Antonio
Kentucky battled back from a 41-31 halftime deficit to Utah - the largest halftime
margin ever overcome in an NCAA title game - to claim the school's seventh
national championship before 40,509 fans in the Alamodome.
Utah was propelled to the early lead thanks to a 24-6 rebounding advantage
in the first half. But Heshimu Evans sparked the "Comeback Cats" off the bench
with seven straight points early in the second half. Later, Final Four Most
Outstanding Player Jeff Sheppard canned a baseline jumper with 4:54 remaining
to give UK a 65-64 lead. The exhausted Utes then missed 11 consecutive field
goals as the Wildcats claimed their second NCAA Championship in three years.
Scott Padgett joined Sheppard on the All-Final Four team after scoring 17
points. UK outrebounded the Utes 18-15 in the second half.
2011-12 NCAA Champions
Front Row (l-r): Doron Lamb, Marquis Teague, Jarrod Polson, Brian Long, Ryan Harrow, Sam Malone, Stacey Poole, Jr.
Back Row (l-r): Twany Beckham, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kyle Wiltjer, Eloy Vargas, Anthony Davis, Terrence Jones, Darius Miller, Jon Hood
Kentucky 67, Kansas 59
April 2, 2012 - New Orleans
Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 
| AP Photo Gallery | Special Celebration Page
Won and Done, indeed. Maybe even Over and Out.
All that really matters is that Kentucky parlayed a roster full of NBA talent into a 67-59 victory Monday night over Kansas for the team's eighth national NCAA basketball title - its first since 1998.
Kentucky's top freshman, Anthony Davis, had a rough shooting night, but John Calipari coached this team to a wire-to-wire victory - a little dicey at the end - to cap a season that cried for no less than a championship for their ol' Kentucky home.
"I wanted everybody to see, we were the best team this season," said the coach who finally has the championship that eluded him for all these years. "We were the best team. I wanted this to be one for the ages."
Doron Lamb, a sophomore with first-round-draft-pick possibilities, led the Wildcats (38-2) with 22 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers that put them up by 16 with 10 minutes left.
The Jayhawks (32-7), kings of the comeback all season, fought to the finish and trimmed that deficit to five with 1:37 left. But Kentucky made five free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Davis' fellow lottery prospect, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, was another headliner, creating space for himself to score all 11 of his points in the first half.
Davis, meanwhile, might have had the most dominating six-point night in the history of college basketball, earning the nod as the most outstanding player. He finished with 16 rebounds, six blocks, five assists and three steals - and made his only field goal with 5:13 left in the game. It was a surefire illustration of how the 6-foot-10 freshman can exert his will on a game even on a rare night when the shot isn't falling.
"Well, it's not me, it's these guys behind me," Davis said after his 1-for-10 performance. "They led us this whole tournament. This whole game I was struggling offensively, and I told my team, every time down, you all score the ball; I'm just gonna defend and rebound."
So much easier when you've got teammates like this. Davis is the likely first pick in the draft, though he said he hasn't decided yet whether he will come out, and Kidd-Gilchrist won't be far behind. Another first-round prospect, freshman Marquis Teague, had 14 points. And yet another, sophomore Terrence Jones, had nine points, seven rebounds and two of Kentucky's 11 blocked shots.
"I love the fact Anthony Davis goes 1 for 10, and you all say he was biggest factor of game," Calipari said. "He was 1 for 10. I asked these guys what they would do without scoring. You have an idea what he does."
Kansas also has a lottery pick in AP All-American Thomas Robinson. He was harassed all night by Davis and Jones and finished with 18 points and 17 rebounds on a 6-for-17 shooting night. He left upset, though not overly impressed with Davis, who he'll certainly see in "the association" over the next several years.
"He's not Superman," Robinson said. "He's just a great player. I don't mean to be disrespectful by it, but as a competitor I'm not going to sit here and give all my praise to someone I go up against."
The Jayhawks won the "B" League this year, as Calipari avenged a final-game loss to Bill Self back in 2008 when Cal was coaching Memphis. The Tigers missed four late free throws in blowing a nine-point lead in that one. Kansas didn't get any such help this time.
Even so, it wasn't a bad season in Lawrence, considering where KU began.
Kansas lost four of its top five scorers off last year's roster. There were times early in the season when Self and his old buddy and mentor, Larry Brown, would stand around at practices and wonder if this was a team that could even make the tournament. It did. Won its eighth straight conference title, too.
"Nobody even expected us to be here in the first place, for us to have a great season," KU guard Travis Releford said. "And we did. We were able to compete for a championship. We had a great year."
None of this, however, was for the faint of heart. The Jayhawks trailed by double digits in three of their five tournament games leading to the final and played every game down to the wire. They fell behind by 18 late in the first half of this one and this time, there was no big comeback to be made; not against these guys.
"We knew coming in that we had been in situations like that before," Releford said. "We played like that all year. We figured we'd come out in the second half and run how we did. It just wasn't good enough."
Davis realized early this was no shoot-first night for him at the Superdome, and Calipari all but told him to cool it at halftime.
"I said, `Listen to me, don't you go out there and try to score,"' the coach said.
The freshman listened. Sporting his near-unibrow, which the UK Wildcat mascot also decided to paste on, he endured the worst shooting night of a short college career in which he makes 64 percent. No big deal. He set the tone early on defense, swatting Robinson's shot twice, grabbing rebounds, making pretty bounce passes for assists.
Early in the second half, he made a steal that also could have been an assist, knocking the ball out of Robinson's hands and directly to Jones, who dunked for a 46-30 lead.
Then, finally. With 5:13 left in the game, he spotted up for a 15-foot jumper from the baseline that swished for a 59-44 lead, putting a dagger in one of Kansas' many comebacks.
"He was terrific," Self said. "The basket he made was one of the biggest baskets of the game."
The crowd, a little more full of Kentucky fans than Kansas, went crazy. If this guy only stays one year and only makes one shot, they're fine with that.
It's the new normal at Kentucky, where Adolph Rupp set a standard, Rick Pitino lived up to it for a while, then Calipari - hardly the buttoned-down type - was hired to bring back the glory.
He goes for the best player, no matter what their long-term goals.
Normally, the prospect of losing all those players in one swoop would have people thinking about a tough rebuilding year.
But Cal has mastered the art of rebuilding on the fly.
He's the coach who brings in the John Walls, Brandon Knights and Derrick Roses (at Memphis) for cups of coffee, lets them sharpen up their resumes, then happily says goodbye when it becomes obvious there's nothing left for them to do in school.
Last year, the formula resulted in a trip to the Final Four that ended with a crushing loss to Connecticut in the semifinals.
This year, Davis, Kidd-Gilchrist and the rest came to Lexington with big-time bona-fides, and they didn't disappoint. Kentucky lost only twice all season - once on a buzzer-beater at Indiana, the second time last month in the SEC tournament title game to Vanderbilt, in the arena across the way from the Superdome.
That trip to New Orleans might have been, as Calipari put it, just what the doctor ordered for a team that could sometimes border on arrogance.
They rebounded nicely for the real tournament, and through it all, the coach refused to apologize for the way he recruits or how he runs his program. Just playing by the rules as they're set up, he says, even if he doesn't totally agree with them. Because he refuses to promise minutes or shots to any recruit and demands teamwork out of all of them, he says he comes by these players honestly.
He has produced nine first-round picks in the last four drafts with a few more coming. This latest group will have an NCAA title in tow and the everlasting love of a fan base that bleeds basketball.
When it was over, all that Kentucky talent ran to the corner of the court, got in a group huddle and jumped up and down like the kids they really are. Will Calipari coach any of them again?
"What I'm hoping is there are six first-rounders on this team," the coach said. "I'm fine with that. That's why I've got to go recruiting on Friday."
