Tough act to follow: UK-VMI game of 10 years ago overflows with memories
It seems impossible that Sunday night’s Kentucky-VMI game can even approach the compelling drama that unfolded the last time the teams played.
David slew Goliath with the help of a player from Goliath’s hometown. Then David toasted his accomplishment with a round of Frostys at Wendy’s.
Sunday’s game comes almost 10 years to the day that VMI defeated Kentucky 111-103 on Nov. 14, 2008. It remains the last time UK lost a home game to a team that’s not presently in a Power Five conference.
To build a belief in what seemed impossible, then-VMI Coach Duggar Baucom had his team watch tape of a Kentucky game from the previous season during its five-plus hour bus ride from Lexington, Va., to Lexington, Ky.
The game: Unranked Gardner-Webb defeating No. 20 Kentucky 84-68 in the second game of the 2007-08 season.
The players got the message Baucom was sending.
“Definitely, that it could be done,” said Michael Sparks, a Tates Creek High School graduate and at the time a VMI freshman about to play his first college game. “To give us a little hope because I don’t think we as a team knew what we were getting into coming to Rupp Arena and playing in front of 20,000. After watching the tape, it was definitely an eye-opener.”
Another set of eyes that opened belonged to teammate Austin Kenon, who now is an assistant coach for VMI. “It just instilled a sense of belief,” he said of watching Gardner-Webb take down Kentucky.
If the VMI community shared this belief, it was not reflected by interest in tickets. Baucom said the only tickets in VMI’s allotment of 100 that he could give away were to Sparks’ family and friends.
“I think I knew everybody in red that night,” Sparks said.
The game’s first few minutes bolstered VMI player belief. UK committed 13 of its 25 turnovers in the first 11 minutes. VMI led 14-3 at the start, and expanded the margin to 42-21 midway through the first half.
Led by Jodie Meeks’ 39-point performance, Kentucky rallied. With the score tied at 97-97, Kenon hit a three-pointer from the right corner. He laughed when told a movie script would have the coach mapping out such a pivotal basket during a dramatic timeout.
“Kind of the complete opposite,” he said. “Usually, as basketball goes, you find the hot hand.”
That was Travis Holmes, who scored 30 points that night. Twin brother Chavis Holmes added 16.
“It just so happened I was the one that was open in this particular situation,” said Kenon, who scored 17 points. His three-pointer was one of 14 VMI made that night.
Holmes recalled what must have seemed like an insult from oddsmakers. The betting point spread was larger than the over-under on points VMI would score.
“Our whole summer was individually geared toward getting ready to play that first game,” Holmes said.
The Keydets players believed such a momentous victory should be celebrated in a special way. A planned postgame meal of boxed lunches brought from VMI did not seem right for the occasion.
“We were kind of giving our coach a hard time,” Kenon said. “‘C’mon coach. We just beat Kentucky. Can we get some better postgame meals here?’
“I just remember him asking, what did we want? We just all yelled back: Wendy’s!”
Baucom recalled the players specifically asking for permission to break from the team’s dietary discipline and eat Frostys. Permission granted.
“I think that game kind of solidified my college career and my brother’s college career,” Holmes said.
“Certainly the biggest win in my coaching career, for sure,” Baucom said.
Sparks plans to attend Sunday night’s game. Holmes said he’s on a “fast” from television watching “for spiritual reasons,” and will not watch.
Baucom, now in his fourth season as coach at The Citadel, plans to watch VMI play at Kentucky again. But he’s on something of a long-lasting “fast” of his own.
“Unless it’s an NCAA Tournament site, I’m never coming back to Rupp Arena,” he said. “Hey, 1-0. I bet I’m in the minority of people who are 1-0 in Rupp Arena.”
Nashville Cats
With the announcement that the SEC Tournament will be in Nashville every year but one through 2035, Music City can expect a long-term financial windfall.
Frank Virevito, the president of the St. Louis Sports Commission, said earlier this year that his group was told the SEC Tournament added $18-$21 million to the Nashville economy in 2015, again in 2016 and again in 2017.
The 2018 SEC Tournament generated $15.6 million to the St. Louis economy, Virevito wrote in a recent email. He attributed the slightly lower number to a more conservative way of counting. For instance, St. Louis does not count SEC Tournament spending by local residents nor money not retained in the local economy.
The SEC announcement also raised the question of whether it’s better to keep the tournament in one location or move it around the league.
Virevito noted the advantages that go with a permanent site: consistent policies and procedures, familiarity with venues, staffs and hotels.
Moving the SEC Tournament around the league can also be good, he said. “Not just to spread joy, but I think different cities also touch different parts of the fan base. So it’s good for the conference to grow its footprint and nice for cities throughout the league to have a shot at hosting and enjoying all the championships.”
Twin engines
Travis Holmes and Chavis Holmes are the highest-scoring twin brothers in the history of college basketball. The brothers combined for 46 points in VMI’s 111-103 victory at Kentucky 10 years ago.
As college players (2006-09), the Holmes twins scored 3,798 points.
“It’s a conversation starter,” Travis Holmes said. “But at the end of the day, I try to be a humble guy. ... It’s definitely something good to put on a resume. It’s not the mark of who I am as a person.”
VMI can also boast the second-highest scoring set of twins. Ramon Williams and Damon Williams scored 3,252 points for the Keydets (1987-90).
The third-highest scoring twins are Horace Grant (Clemson) and Harvey Grant (Clemson, then Oklahoma). They combined for 3,231 points (1984-88).
Late-game advice
Former Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese recalled the advice his predecessor gave coaches who complained about games starting late at night.
“Dave Gavitt used to tell our coaches this all the time,” Tranghese said. “‘Listen, if you’re going to (complain) and moan about it in front of your team, they’re going to use it as an excuse. So don’t talk about it. If you want to come and gripe at me, come and gripe at me. But don’t talk about it publicly because I think it sends the wrong message to your team.’”
‘Hangover game’
When he was a coach, ESPN commentator Dan Dakich was not a fan of starting times late at night.
“I never liked it because I didn’t want to sit around all day,” he said.
When he became coach at Bowling Green, Dakich insisted the Saturday games start at noon.
Dakich said he learned that attendance decreased for the noon games on Saturday. He linked this to students’ partying late Friday night.
Of the noon starts on Saturday, Dakich said, “I called it the ‘hangover game.’”
Attendance
Whether the cause was the late start or the icy weather or a low-profile opponent or a perfect storm of all the above, there were a noticeable number of empty seats for Kentucky’s game against North Dakota on Wednesday.
The announced attendance was 18,555. An Open Records request revealed that the turnstile count of ticket holders entering Rupp Arena that night was 9,941.
Big Blue wow
When Kentucky advances deep in the 2019 NCAA Tournament, here are some other numbers that will be long forgotten:
In the first two games, Kentucky led for only 17 minutes and 42 seconds. UK led by a double-digit margin for 89 seconds.
Kentucky’s largest lead in the first two games: the 71-59 final score against Southern Illinois. UK built that lead on a basket with 34 seconds left.
And here’s a Duke statistic to ponder: after two games, opponents were averaging 78 points. In that same span, the freshmen trio of RJ Barrett, Zion Williamson and Cam Reddish was averaging 79 points.
Bigger wow?
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson tweeted this on Nov. 2:
“Mind blown yet today? How about: The ‘thirteen’ letters of ‘eleven plus two,’ when rearranged, also spell ‘twelve plus one.’”
Happy birthday
To Karl-Anthony Towns. He turned 23 on Thursday. ... To Charles Matthews. He turned 22 on Thursday. ... To Clarence Tillman. He turned 58 on Thursday. ... To former Auburn Coach Sonny Smith. He turned 82 on Thursday. ... To Alex Legion. He turned 30 on Friday. ... To Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim. He turned 74 on Saturday... To Tom Payne. He turns 68 on Monday. ... To Louie Dampier. He turns 74 on Tuesday.