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Tom Leach’s top 10 Kentucky-Louisville basketball games

When Kentucky and Louisville square off Friday on the final day of 2010, it will mark the third time these two rivals have played on New Year’s Eve. The Cats won in 1996 while the Cards prevailed in 1988. That’s just one of many historical footnotes to the game on both teams’ schedules that means the most to their fans — outside of the NCAA Tournament, of course. With that in mind, here’s one man’s opinion on the top 10 games in the Battle of Bluegrass, which has been an annual affair since the 1983-84 season.

Kentucky vs. Louisville

When and square off Friday on the final day of 2010, it will mark the third time these two rivals have played on New Year's Eve. The Cats won in 1996 while the Cards prevailed in 1988.   That's just one of many historical footnotes to the game on both teams' schedules that means the most to their fans — outside of the NCAA Tournament, of course. With that in mind, here's one man's opinion on the top 10 games in the Battle of Bluegrass, which has been an annual affair since the 1983-84 season.

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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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