The University of Kentucky Athletics Department will celebrate the 1974-1975 men’s basketball team, which finished as the national runner-up and captured the Southeastern Conference regular-season crown, with festivities surrounding Saturday’s game vs. South Carolina inside Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center.
The ceremony will take place during halftime of the game on Saturday, which tips off at Noon ET and will be televised on ESPN2.
Limited quantities of a poster commemorating the 1975 team will be distributed for free before the game on the concourse behind section 11 while supplies last.
Head coach Joe B. Hall‘s 1974-75 Wildcats went 26-5 overall (15-3 SEC) and finished the season ranked No. 2 nationally.
The season began on Nov. 30 with a 97-70 home win over Northwestern. UK earned wins over No. 9 North Carolina, No. 18 Kansas, No. 13 Notre Dame, No. 18 Tennessee and had two wins over No. 5 Alabama during the regular season. The Wildcats and the Crimson Tide tied for the conference crown, with UK garnering the SEC’s NCAA Tournament bid based on those two victories, as there was no league tourney in those days.
The Wildcats opened their NCAA Tournament quest with a win over No. 10 Marquette in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The Cats then took down Central Michigan in Dayton, Ohio, before nipping No. 1 Indiana by a 92-90 score to move on to the Final Four, which was held in San Diego, Calif. Kentucky then topped Syracuse by a 95-79 score to reach the national final.
Prior to the game, legendary coach John Wooden announced his retirement following the title game. Motivated by that announcement, the Bruins claimed a 92-85 victory and their 10th NCAA title under Wooden.
Hall was named the SEC Coach of the Year, while senior Kevin Grevey earned consensus second-team All-America honors and he was the SEC Player of the Year. He led the Wildcats in scoring with 23.5 points per game.
Grevey was joined on the All-SEC Team by fellow senior Jimmy Dan Conner and freshman Rick Robey, both of whom were third-team selections. Conner averaged 12.4 points per game and tied for the team lead in assists with 3.4 per contest. Robey averaged 10.3 points per game and paced the Wildcats in rebounding with 6.9 per game.
Grevey scored 34 points in the championship game, while Bob Guyette (16) and Mike Flynn (10) also reached double-digit scoring. In the Mideast Regional final, Flynn went 9 of 13 and had a team-high 22 points in the upset of top-rated and the favorite to win the title, Indiana, who had won 34 straight games.
