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.
