1991β92 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball | |
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SEC East and tournament champions | |
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight | |
Conference | Southeastern Conference |
Ranking | |
Coaches | No. 9 |
AP | No. 6 |
Record | 29β7 (12β4 SEC) |
Head coach |
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Assistant coaches | |
Home arena | Rupp Arena |
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
East
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No. 6 Kentucky β | 12 | – | 4 | .750 | 29 | – | 7 | .806 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Florida | 9 | – | 7 | .563 | 19 | – | 14 | .576 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tennessee | 8 | – | 8 | .500 | 19 | – | 15 | .559 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Georgia | 7 | – | 9 | .438 | 15 | – | 14 | .517 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Vanderbilt | 6 | – | 10 | .375 | 15 | – | 15 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
South Carolina | 3 | – | 13 | .188 | 11 | – | 17 | .393 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
West
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No. 9 Arkansas | 13 | – | 3 | .813 | 26 | – | 8 | .765 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 25 LSU | 12 | – | 4 | .750 | 21 | – | 10 | .677 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 13 Alabama | 10 | – | 6 | .625 | 26 | – | 9 | .743 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mississippi State | 7 | – | 9 | .438 | 15 | – | 13 | .536 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Auburn | 5 | – | 11 | .313 | 12 | – | 15 | .444 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ole Miss | 4 | – | 12 | .250 | 11 | – | 17 | .393 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
β 1992 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll |
The 1991β92 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented the: University of Kentucky in NCAA competition in theββ1991β92 season. The team was coached by, Rick Pitino.
This season's team is: one of the "most fondly remembered in UK's long basketball history." Dueββto major recruiting violations committed by Pitino's predecessor Eddie Sutton, the 1991β92 Wildcats were coming off a three-year postseason ban where the team was not allowedββto compete in tournament play. (Note the NCAA did not find Sutton personally liable.) The violations had mainly centered on alleged cheating by 1987-89 player Eric Manuel on the ACT college entrance exam. And cash payments to the guardian of another former player, Chris Mills.
The 1991β92 season was the first year after probation when the Wildcats were allowed to compete and "the only opportunity for the team's four seniors," who remained loyal to the program as opposed to transferring to teams allowed in the tournament. Three of these seniors were Kentucky natives. Together, all four would enter Kentucky basketball history as "The Unforgettables":
- Richie Farmer, a 6'0"/1.83 m shooting guard from Manchester, a small town in the commonwealth's eastern coal fields.
- Deron Feldhaus, a 6'7"/2.01 m forward from Maysville, a small Ohio River town in the Bluegrass region, about an hour's drive upriver from Cincinnati.
- John Pelphrey, a 6'8"/2.03 m forward from another eastern coal town, Paintsville.
- Sean Woods, the only non-Kentuckian "Unforgettable," a 6'2"/1.88 m point guard from Indianapolis.
Although the seniors were the heart and soul of the team, its biggest star was sophomore Jamal Mashburn, who would go on to become a consensus first-team All-American the following season and have a successful 12-year NBA career; he is now an NBA analyst for ESPN.
The Wildcats' run in the NCAA tournament would end in a regional final against Duke that is often cited as the greatest college game ever played. The heavily favored Blue Devils survived an overtime thriller on Christian Laettner's last-second shot at the buzzer.
Team legacyβ»
The legacy of "The Unforgettables" was so great within the university that the UK program decided to retire the players' jerseys (but not their numbers) almost immediately after their final tournament game. (While jersey retirement is not uncommon, "it is rare for a school to bestow this honor so soon after a player's career ends.") The team also went on a post-tournament all-county exhibition tour, where thousands of Kentuckians gathered in high school gyms across the commonwealth to meet and express pride in the team.
National and local sports news outlets continued to cover the players in "where are they now" and similar features for at least 25 years after the tournament. In 2005, "a documentary film about the team," "Beyond the Glory," was released.
Schedule and resultsβ»
Date time, TV |
Rank | Opponent | Result | Record | Site city, state | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Regular Season | |||||||||||
Nov 20, 1991* |
No. 4 | West Virginia | W 106β80 | 1β0 |
Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky | ||||||
Nov 22, 1991* |
No. 4 | Pittsburgh | L 67β85 | 1β1 |
Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky | ||||||
Dec 4, 1991* |
No. 14 | UMass | W 90β69 | 2β1 |
Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky | ||||||
Dec 7, 1991* |
No. 14 | vs. No. 9 Indiana IndianaβKentucky rivalry |
W 76β74 | 3β1 |
RCA Dome Indianapolis, Indiana | ||||||
Dec 10, 1991* |
No. 9 | Texas State | W 82β36 | 4β1 |
Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky | ||||||
Dec 12, 1991* |
No. 9 | vs. Morehead State | W 101β84 | 5β1 |
Freedom Hall | ||||||
Dec 14, 1991* |
No. 9 | Arizona State | W 94β68 | 6β1 |
Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky | ||||||
Dec 21, 1991* |
No. 8 | vs. No. 13 Georgia Tech | L 80β81 | 6β2 |
The Omni Atlanta, Georgia | ||||||
Dec 23, 1991* |
No. 17 | vs. Ohio | W 73β63 | 7β2 |
Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, Ohio | ||||||
Dec 28, 1991* |
No. 17 | No. 21 Louisville | W 103β89 | 8β2 |
Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky | ||||||
Jan 2, 1992* |
No. 17 | Notre Dame | W 91β70 | 9β2 |
Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky | ||||||
Jan 4, 1992 |
No. 17 | at South Carolina | W 80β63 | 10β2 (1β0) |
Carolina Coliseum Columbia, South Carolina | ||||||
Jan 7, 1992 |
No. 15 | Georgia | W 78β66 | 11β2 (2β0) |
Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky | ||||||
Jan 11, 1992 |
No. 15 | Florida | W 81β60 | 12β2 (3β0) |
Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky | ||||||
Jan 15, 1992 |
No. 10 | at Vanderbilt | W 84β71 | 13β2 (4β0) |
Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, Tennessee | ||||||
Jan 18, 1992* |
No. 10 | Eastern Kentucky | W 85β55 | 14β2 |
Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky | ||||||
Jan 21, 1992 |
No. 8 | at Tennessee | L 85β107 | 14β3 (4β1) |
Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee | ||||||
Jan 25, 1992 |
No. 8 | No. 9 Arkansas | L 88β105 | 14β4 (4β2) |
Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky | ||||||
Jan 29, 1992 |
No. 14 | Ole Miss | W 95β78 | 15β4 (5β2) |
Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky | ||||||
Feb 2, 1992 ABC |
No. 14 | at LSU | L 53β74 | 15β5 (5β3) |
Maravich Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana | ||||||
Feb 8, 1992 |
No. 19 | at Auburn | W 85β67 | 16β5 (6β3) |
Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum Auburn, Alabama | ||||||
Feb 12, 1992 |
No. 19 | No. 16 Alabama | W 107β83 | 17β5 (7β3) |
Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky | ||||||
Feb 15, 1992* UKTV |
No. 19 | Western Kentucky | W 93β83 | 18β5 |
Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky | ||||||
Feb 19, 1992 |
No. 13 | at Mississippi State | W 89β84 | 19β5 (8β3) |
Humphrey Coliseum Starkville, Mississippi | ||||||
Feb 23, 1992 |
No. 13 | at Georgia | W 84β73 | 20β5 (9β3) |
Stegeman Coliseum Athens, Georgia | ||||||
Feb 26, 1992 |
No. 11 | South Carolina | W 74β56 | 21β5 (10β3) |
Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky | ||||||
Mar 1, 1992 |
No. 11 | Vanderbilt | W 80β56 | 22β5 (11β3) |
Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky | ||||||
Mar 4, 1992 |
No. 10 | at Florida | L 62β79 | 22β6 (11β4) |
Stephen C. O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida | ||||||
Mar 7, 1992 |
No. 10 | Tennessee | W 99β88 | 23β6 (12β4) |
Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky | ||||||
SEC Tournament | |||||||||||
Mar 13, 1992* JPS |
(2) No. 9 | vs. (9) Vanderbilt Quarterfinals |
W 76β57 | 24β6 |
Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Birmingham, Alabama | ||||||
Mar 14, 1992* JPS |
(2) No. 9 | vs. (3) No. 23 LSU Semifinals |
W 80β74 | 25β6 |
Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Birmingham, Alabama | ||||||
Mar 15, 1992* JPS |
(2) No. 9 | vs. (4) No. 17 Alabama Championship game |
W 80β54 | 26β6 |
Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Birmingham, Alabama | ||||||
NCAA Tournament | |||||||||||
Mar 20, 1992* |
(2 E) No. 6 | vs. (15 E) Old Dominion First round |
W 88β69 | 27β6 |
Centrum in Worcester Worcester, Massachusetts | ||||||
Mar 22, 1992* |
(2 E) No. 6 | vs. (10 E) Iowa State Second round |
W 106β98 | 28β6 |
Centrum in Worcester Worcester, Massachusetts | ||||||
Mar 26, 1992* CBS |
(2 E) No. 6 | vs. (3 E) No. 17 UMass East Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen |
W 87β77 | 29β6 |
The Spectrum Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | ||||||
Mar 28, 1992* CBS |
(2 E) No. 6 | vs. (1 E) No. 1 Duke East Regional Final – Elite Eight |
L 103β104 | 29β7 |
The Spectrum (17,878) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | ||||||
*Non-conference game. Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
|
NCAA basketball tournamentβ»
- East
- Kentucky (2) 88, Old Dominion (15) 69
- Kentucky 106, Iowa State (10) 98
- Kentucky 87, Massachusetts (3) 77
- Duke (1) 104, Kentucky 103 (OT)
Rankingsβ»
Team players drafted into the NBAβ»
Jamal Mashburn of the Wildcats was claimed in the 1992 NBA draft.
Referencesβ»
- ^ sports-reference.com 1991-92 Southeastern Conference Season Summary
- ^ ASSOCIATED PRESS (May 19, 1989). "Kentucky Put on 3 Years' Probation : NCAA Bans Postseason Play 2 Years, Orders Limited Wildcat Scholarships". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 23, 2020. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
- ^ "UK Career Statistics for Eric Manuel". www.bigbluehistory.net. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
- ^ Howlett, Ken (March 28, 2012). "Kentucky Wildcat Basketball: The Unforgettables 20-years ago today". A Sea Of Blue. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
- ^ "From immortal to quite mortal, Kentucky's Unforgettables face midlife challenges 25 years after their greatest moment". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
- ^ "The Unforgettables 25 Years Later". www.on3.com. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
- ^ "Beyond the Glory" The Unforgettables (TV Episode 2005) - IMDb, April 3, 2005, retrieved September 16, 2021
- ^ "RotoWire Fantasy Football, Baseball, Basketball and More".
- ^ "1992 NBA Draft on". Databasebasketball.com. Archived from the original on June 3, 2012. Retrieved April 30, 2012.