As Feb. 21, 1970 dawned in Baton Rouge, La., LSU’s Pistol Pete Maravich was 0-5 against Kentucky in his career. Now came this, the Pistol’s final chance to beat the Wildcats in the final game of his extraordinary career. Jubilant LSU fans who’d recently finished celebrating Mardi Gras began to arrive at the 9,000-seat John Parker Memorial Coliseum in Baton Rouge. Rarely had a college basketball game been bigger. That day’s regular season finale would be nationally televised, a rarity for the time. Kentucky boasted a No. 2 national ranking, an already legendary coach in Adolph Rupp, and a superstar of the Wildcats’ own, senior forward Dan Issel.
