1974–75 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team
1974–75 Southeast Conference | |
---|---|
Ranking | |
Coaches | No. 4 |
AP | No. 2 |
Record | 26–5 (15–3 SEC) |
Head coach | (3rd season) |
Assistant coaches |
|
Home arena | Rupp Arena |
The 1974–75 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented the
Regular season
On December 7, 1974, Indiana and Kentucky met in the regular season in Bloomington with a 98-74 Indiana win. Near the end of the game, Indiana coach Bob Knight went to the Kentucky bench where the official was standing to complain about a call. Before he left, Knight hit Kentucky coach Joe B. Hall in the back of the head.[1] UK's assistant coach Leonard Hamilton, a former FBI agent who was about 6 feet 5 inches, had to be restrained by Hall from hitting Knight. Hall later said, "It publicly humiliated me."[2]
Knight said the slap to the head was something he has done, "affectionately" to his own players for years. "But maybe someone would not like that," he said. "If Joe didn't like it, I offer an apology. I don't apologize for the intent." ... "Hall and I have been friends for a long time," Knight said. "If he wants to dissolve the friendship, that's up to him."[3] Knight blamed the furor on Hall, noting in his inimitable style, "If it was meant to be malicious, I'd have blasted the fucker into the seats."[4] Indiana finished the regular season unbeaten (31–0).
NCAA tournament
Following the contentious regular season game, Indiana and Kentucky met in the
The loss for Indiana prevented what could have been back-to-back undefeated seasons and national championships as the Hoosiers went on to take the national title in 1976. Bob Knight would later say that this 1974–1975 team was the best he ever coached, even better than the undefeated national champions of 1976. The win put UK in the Final Four in San Diego, where they dropped the NCAA title game in what would be John Wooden's last game.
- East
- Kentucky 76, Marquette 54
- Kentucky 90, Central Michigan 73
- Kentucky 92, Indiana 90
- Final Four
Awards and honors
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Team players drafted into the NBA
Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
1 | 18 | Kevin Grevey | Washington Bullets
|
2 | 36 | Jimmy Dan Conner | Phoenix Suns |
3 | 49 | Bob Guyette | Kansas City Kings |
7 | 113 | Mike Flynn | Philadelphia 76ers |
References
- ^ "Recapping the rivalry". Retrieved March 22, 2012.
- ^ Atlanta Constitution Journal, 28 February 1982.[verification needed]
- ^ Laudeman, Tev, Louisville Courier Journal, 8 December 1974. [verification needed]
- ^ Delsohn, Steve (2006). Bob Knight: The Unauthorized Biography. Simon & Schuster. pp. 96.
- ^ Mike Douchant - Greatest 63 games in NCAA Tournament history. The Sports Xchange, published in USA Today, March 25, 2002
- ^ "1975 NCAA basketball tournament Bracket > Mideast & Final Four", databasesports.com.
- ^ "1975 NBA Draft on". Databasebasketball.com. Archived from the original on March 17, 2010. Retrieved April 20, 2012.