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U N PA R A L L E L E D T R A D I T I O N
Feb. 28, 1933
UK wins the first Southeastern Conference Tournament
Championship by defeating Mississippi State, 46-27, in Atlanta.
Feb. 17, 1934
UK establishes a national record with its 23rd consecutive
win (47-27 over Vanderbilt). Near riot erupts as
fans vie for seats in Alumni Gym.
Feb. 14, 1938
Joe Hagan’s 48-foot shot with 12 seconds left lifts the Wildcats
over Marquette, 35-33. After the game, Gov. A. B. “Happy”
Chandler pounds a nail into the floor to mark the spot where
the shot was taken.
March 20, 1942
After winning its sixth SEC championship, UK wins its first
NCAA Tournament game, 46-44, over Illinois.
March 20, 1946
UK wins Rupp’s first national title, with a 46-45 victory over
Rhode Island.
March 24, 1947
Before a Madison Square Garden record crowd of 18,493, Wat
Misaka held Ralph Beard to two points and Utah ended the
Wildcats’ bid for back-to-back NIT Championships.
March 23, 1948
Adolph Rupp’s “Fabulous Five” wins UK’s first NCAA
Championship, 58-42, over Baylor. The team is met in
Lexington by 15,000 fans and given a parade on a fire truck.
August 13, 1948
The U.S. Olympic basketball team, featuring Kentucky’s
“Fabulous Five,” wins the gold medal by defeating France,
64-21, at Wembley Stadium in London.
March 8, 1949
Kentucky ends the year ranked No. 1 in the first season of
the Associated Press basketball poll.
March 26, 1949
UK wins its second consecutive NCAA championship,
defeating Oklahoma A&M, 46-36, in Seattle.
Dec. 1, 1950
UK plays its first game in the new, $3.9 million, 11,500-
seat Memorial Coliseum. Skeptics label the building a
“white elephant.”
March 27, 1951
UK wins its third NCAA title, defeating Kansas State, 68-58,
in the finals in Minneapolis.
1952-53
UK’s season is suspended by the NCAA.
Dec. 5, 1953
Cawood Ledford broadcasts his first game as the radio “Voice
of the Wildcats.”
March 9, 1954
Kentucky beats LSU, 63-56, in an SEC playoff game to cap a
perfect 25-0 season and finish with the nation’s No. 1 ranking.
Adolph Rupp and assistant Paul McBrayer made UK a national power in the early 1940s. Ralph Beard, Wah Jones,
Cliff Hagan and John Crigler excelled under Rupp.
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