From the opening moments, you could sense Andrew Harrison was about to have a big game.
The way he dribbled screamed confidence. The way he was attacking, he seemed certain no one would stop him.
Not surprisingly, his coach took notice too.
“It's a spirit,” John Calipari said. “It's a spirit that we all feel when you watch him play.”
No one felt it more acutely than the Arkansas players who had the unfortunate task of trying to shadow him on Saturday.
Harrison was in control from tip to buzzer as top-ranked Kentucky (29-0, 16-0 Southeastern Conference) led by as many as 31 in a victory over No. 18/16 Arkansas (23-6, 13-5 SEC) more dominant than the final score of 84-67 suggests. He had 18 points, three rebounds and three assists as UK clinched its 46th SEC regular-season title outright and moved to within two wins of a perfect regular season.
Walter Cornett, of Glendale, Kentucky, is the owner and operator of Walter's Wildcat World. He founded WildcatWorld.com in 1998 making it one of the oldest Kentucky basketball fan sites in operation today.
On This Day In UK Basketball History
- On March 18, 1966, Louie Dampier joined the 1,000-point club. He did it in 53 games.
- On March 18, 1966, Kentucky, the No. 1 team in the nation, faced off against No. 2 Duke in the 1966 NCAA Final Four. Louie Dampier (23 points) and Pat Riley (19) led the top-ranked Cats past No. 2 Duke in front of 14,253 at the Cole Field House in College Park, Md.
- On March 18, 1972, Adolph Rupp coaches his last game at UK, a 73-54 loss to Florida State for the Mideast Region title in the NCAA Tournament.
- On March 18, 1978, in the 1978 NCAA Tournament round of eight, sophomore point guard Kyle Macy scored nine points in the final 6:16 to rally the Wildcats past Michigan State and freshman star Earvin “Magic” Johnson before 13,485 at the University of Dayton Arena.