212-Rupp Arena.qxp - University of Kentucky Athletics

Tradition
A Home-Away-From-Home
(Won 114, Lost 30, 79.2%)
The University of Kentucky has built an impressive
record playing in Louisville. Besides winning
18 of their last 21 there, the Wildcats have won
an NCAA championship (1958), nine Southeastern
Conference Tournament titles, and have defeated
some of the best teams from around the country
before Wildcats fans in Louisville.
UK vs. Opponents in Louisville
School UK-Won UK-Lost
Alabama 5 0
Auburn 5 0
Austin Peay 2 0
Centre 0 1
DePaul 4 0
Florida 5 0
Florida St. 1 0
Georgia 5 1
Georgia Tech 6 0
Great Lakes 0 2
Illinois 1 0
Indiana 8 4
Kansas 3 0
LSU 5 0
Louisville 8 6
Louisville Coliseum 0 1
Marshall 1 0
Mississippi 3 0
Mississippi St. 3 0
Morehead 2 0
North Carolina 1 2
Notre Dame 23 9
Ohio State 0 1
Purdue 1 0
Seattle 1 0
Temple 5 0
Tennessee 5 2
Tulane 8 0
Vanderbilt 1 1
VMI 1 0
Western Kentucky 1 0
Total 113 30
Freedom Hall - Louisville
Tubby Smith helped guide Kentucky to
a 61-53 victory over Austin Peay
on New Year’s Eve last season.
Kentucky began playing in Louisville
in 1908, when the Cats lost to Louisville Coliseum,
30-18. UK defeated the University of
Louisville, 26-13 in 1914, lost to the Cards 26-15
the following year, and then defeated them 32-24
in 1916. Two years later, UK lost to Centre, 22-
12, in the state championship game played in
Louisville. The Cats defeated the Cards there in
1922 and then did not play again in the Derby
City until the 1936-37 season, when they
dropped a 41-28 decision to Notre Dame.
Most of those early games were played in the
Armory downtown before Freedom Hall was
opened (1957). The Cats christened the new
facility by capturing the 1958 NCAA title with
victories over Temple and Seattle. The spacious
arena has played host to Kentucky teams every
year since. Kentucky’s record at Freedom Hall
now stands at 50-16.
The Wildcats’ overall record in Louisville is 114-
30: 66-24 in regular-season play, 43-3 in SEC Tournament
play and 5-3 in postseason competition.
Kentucky’s most impressive string of victories
in Louisville came when the Cats won
32 straight games between 1946 and 1951.
Only 11 of the 31 teams Kentucky has faced
in Louisville have been able to knock off the
Cats. The longest running series has been
with Notre Dame, with the Wildcats holding
a 23-9 advantage over the Fighting Irish.
Kentucky established a then-Freedom Hall
attendance record in 1993 as 20,060 fans
jammed the arena to watch the Cats down the
Indiana Hoosiers, 81-78. Seven years earlier,
20,053 fans looked on as the Cats faced SECrival
Georgia, Dec. 30, 1986. UK fans continued
a Wildcat tradition as more than 19,000
arrived the night before for a brief Kentucky
shooting practice and to catch a glimpse of
super-frosh Rex Chapman in December 1986.
Three days earlier, the Wildcats had handed
Louisville its worst defeat ever at Freedom
Hall, 85-51.
Kentucky’s neutral site games in Freedom Hall are sellouts. The Cats have an
incredible fan base in the Louisville and southern Indiana area.
2004-05 Kentucky Basketball • 219