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‘Rupp’s Runts’ defied the odds reaching title game

From :  “This series counts down the greatest basketball teams of all time. No. 1 will be revealed in the Kernel’s basketball season preview edition on Nov. 7. Here is No. 9: the 1965-66 Cats known as “Rupp Runts.”  In the fall of 1965, expectations of basketball were gloomy. People were predicting a losing season for head coach , which would be his first. They were believed to be too small to compete, with no starter taller than 6-foot-5.  “Rupp’s Runts” were primarily , , , , and .At this point in basketball history, recruiting began to change. Other teams around the country were getting bigger and UK was having a more difficult time lasting in the NCAA tournament.”

 

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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.

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On This Day in UK Basketball History

On March 26, 1949, Alex Groza had 25 points to lead Kentucky to its second straight NCAA title before 12,500 in the Edmundson Pavilion in Seattle.  Alex Groza had 25 points to lead Kentucky.  Of Kentucky’s eight NCAA title game victories, this is the only one that came in a matchup of teams ranked No. 1 vs. No. 2. It was also an NCAA championship game meeting of coaching giants Adolph Rupp and Henry Iba.

 

On March 26, 1983, in the first meeting between the schools in 24 years, Louisville defeats UK 80-68 in overtime to earn a trip to the Final Four.

 

Wildcats Born on This Date

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