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Former UCLA coach John Wooden laid to rest in Los Angeles

Former basketball coach John Wooden, who led the Bruins to 10 NCAA championships and died on June 4, has been buried in Los Angeles.  UCLA athletics spokesman Marc Dellins confirmed that Wooden was laid to rest Friday afternoon after a private ceremony for family and invited guests at Forest Lawn's Old North Church in the Hollywood Hills.  A public memorial for Wooden is scheduled for June 26 at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion.  Wooden died of natural causes at the age of 99 at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. He had been hospitalized since May 26.  Wooden's 10 national championships included an unmatched streak of seven in a row from 1967 to 1973.  Over 27 years, he won 620 games and coached such greats as Bill Walton and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

On This Day In UK Basketball History

On March 28, 1992, in what many called the “best NCAA Tournament game ever,” Kentucky takes defending NCAA champion Duke into overtime before losing 104-103 in the East Regional finals in Philadelphia. A last-second shot by Christian Laettner sends Duke to the Final Four, and breaks the hearts of Wildcat fans everywhere. It is Cawood Ledford’s last game as the “Voice of the Wildcats.”

 

On March 28, 1998, against Stanford, Kentucky rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit, then grabbed a 5-point overtime lead, before fending off the Cardinals to advance to the title game for the third straight season. Jeff Sheppard canned three long-range three-pointers - two in the final three minutes and one in overtime - en route to a career-high 27 points.

 

On March 28, 2014, unranked Kentucky beat No. 5 Louisville 74-69, in the 2014 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.  Aaron Harrison buried a three-pointer from the left corner with 39 seconds left that put UK ahead to stay before 41,072 in Lucas Oil Stadium.

 

On March 28, 2015, No. 1 Kentucky defeated No. 8 Notre Dame, 68-66, in the 2015 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.  With its 37-0 record on the line, Kentucky trailed Notre Dame 59-53 with 6:14 left. UK rallied in front of 19,464 fans in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena and preserved its perfect season thanks to a crucial blocked shot by Willie Cauley-Stein and two game-deciding free throws from Andrew Harrison in the final seconds.

 

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