NCAA Tournament history has been made at UK’s Rupp Arena. These are six memorable games
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Tracking NCAA games in Rupp Arena
Click below to view more coverage from the Lexington Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com about the men’s NCAA Tournament games March 20 and 22 in Rupp Arena.
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Plenty of men’s NCAA Tournament history has already been written within the hallowed walls of Rupp Arena in downtown Lexington.
And more is to be made this week.
For the 13th time since it opened in November 1976, Rupp Arena is hosting games in the men’s edition of March Madness.
This week will mark the fifth time that Rupp hosts games in the first and second rounds. The home of UK men’s basketball was also a host site for games in the round of 64 and round of 32 in 1994, 1998, 2007, and most recently in 2013.
(And if you’re wondering, no, Kentucky isn’t allowed to play in these games).
Rupp has also hosted seven regionals — in 1977, 1980, 1984, 1989, 1992, 1996 and 2002 — and one Final Four in 1985.
With men’s NCAA Tournament basketball returning to Rupp Arena for the first time in a dozen years, it’s worth taking a look back at some of the best moments in the national postseason to occur right here in Central Kentucky.
It would be impossible to compile a complete list of the March Madness history that’s occurred in Rupp Arena over the last 50 years. But, these six games help tell the story of some of the best NCAA Tournament moments at Rupp.
Villanova beats Georgetown in ‘The Perfect Game’ for 1985 NCAA title
Score: 8 seed Villanova defeats 1 seed Georgetown 66-64.
Date: April 1, 1985.
Round: National championship game.
Notable: The first and only time that Rupp Arena hosted a men’s Final Four produced one of the greatest upsets in NCAA Tournament history.
Commonly referred to as “The Perfect Game,” Villanova won its first national championship and remains the worst seed (8) to ever win a national title. 1985 was also the first year in which the NCAA Tournament field was expanded to 64 teams and the last year that the tournament didn’t feature a shot clock.
Georgetown, St. John’s and Villanova combined to give the Big East Conference three out of the four schools in that year’s Final Four in Lexington.
The Wildcats overcame the Hoyas — who were 9.5-point favorites in the championship game — thanks to 17 points from Dwayne McClain and 16 points from Ed Pinckney, who also had six rebounds and five assists. Pinckney was named the most outstanding player of the tournament.
Georgetown star Patrick Ewing, who saw double teams all night from the Villanova defense, had 14 points and five rebounds in his final college basketball game. The Hoyas reached the national championship game in three of Ewing’s four seasons with the program, only winning the national title in 1984.
Georgetown entered this national championship game sporting a 35-2 record, while Villanova was only 24-10.
The recipe for this stunning upset — which came in the last Division I men’s basketball game played without a shot clock — was Villanova’s offensive efficiency. The Wildcats made 22 of 28 shots from the field (78.6%) and 22 of 27 free throws (81.5%).
Two days after this game, the NCAA approved a shot clock (45 seconds) to begin the following season.
In 1977, Rupp Arena hosts its first NCAA Tournament games
Score: Michigan defeats Detroit 86-81.
Date: March 17, 1977.
Round: Mideast Regional semifinal.
Notable: Rupp Arena opened its doors on Nov. 27, 1976, as Kentucky christened its new home gym with a 72-64 victory over Wisconsin in front of an announced crowd of 23,266.
Just months later, Rupp was already in the rotation of NCAA Tournament host sites. Rupp hosted the semifinals and finals of the Mideast Regional in 1977.
The best of these three games was Michigan’s regional semifinal win over Detroit, which was coached by legendary college basketball personality Dick Vitale.
The Wolverines got 25 points from John Robinson and 22 points from Phil Hubbard in the win. Hubbard also had a whopping 26 rebounds. For comparison, the Rupp Arena record for rebounds by a Kentucky player is the 28 boards Oscar Tshiebwe had in a December 2021 win over Western Kentucky.
Charlotte ended up defeating Michigan in the Mideast Regional finals in Lexington and advancing to the 1977 Final Four in Atlanta.
Future UK basketball coach Billy Gillispie beats Louisville in Rupp
Score: 3 seed Texas A&M defeats 6 seed Louisville 72-69.
Date: March 17, 2007.
Round: South Regional second-round game.
Notable: Does recent UK basketball history play out the same way if Billy G’s Texas A&M squad loses to Louisville in this game?
Maybe. Maybe not.
Regardless, something that was definitely going in Gillispie’s favor prior to his offseason hiring by Kentucky in April 2007 was a recent win over UK’s biggest rival in Rupp Arena.
Gillispie’s Aggies got 26 points from Acie Law and 21 points from Dominique Kirk in the win over Rick Pitino’s Cardinals, who were led by Edgar Sosa’s 31-point outburst in front of a staunchly pro-Louisville crowd.
The two teams combined to attempt 70 free throws. That included two dramatic late misses by Sosa: He had made 15 straight free throws in the game, but missed a pair with 29.8 seconds left and the Cardinals down one point.
The victory gave Texas A&M its first Sweet 16 trip in 27 years. After three seasons as the A&M head coach, Gillispie departed for Kentucky in the offseason, but made it just two seasons at UK before being fired.
Duke beats Kentucky at Rupp Arena in 1980 NCAA Tournament
Score: 4 seed Duke defeats 1 seed Kentucky 55-54.
Date: March 13, 1980.
Round: Mideast Regional semifinal.
Notable: After hosting its first NCAA Tournament games in 1977, Lexington was back in the hosting rotation with the same assignment three years later.
But what greeted UK backers on this day at Rupp Arena still leaves a sour memory: 1 seed Kentucky was ousted by 4 seed Duke inside the friendly confines of Rupp in a Mideast Regional semifinal.
Joe B. Hall’s Wildcats entered the game with a 29-5 record and were led by senior Kyle Macy (15.4 points) and freshman Sam Bowie (12.9 points). UK had separate winning streaks of 11 games and 12 games during the season.
But the Wildcats’ season came to an end at the hands of the Blue Devils, coached by Bill Foster. The next season, Mike Krzyzewski took over at Duke.
Kentucky trailed by 14 points at halftime and saw most of its star players struggle. The aforementioned duo of leading scorers Macy and Bowie combined for just eight points. Bowie battled foul trouble and played only nine minutes before fouling out.
Fred Cowan carried the scoring load with 26 points for the Cats, but he was the only UK player who scored in double figures. Cowan scored the final 15 points of the game for Kentucky. Duke’s Gene Banks made the game-winning free throw with 22 seconds left. Macy missed what would have been the game-winning shot for UK with four seconds to go.
Duke lost in the Mideast Regional finals at Rupp to Purdue, who had beaten Indiana in the other regional semifinal played in Lexington. Louisville won its first NCAA title that year.
Louisville begins run to 2013 NCAA championship with Rupp blowouts
Score: 1 seed Louisville defeats 8 seed Colorado State 82-56.
Date: March 23, 2013.
Round: Midwest Regional second-round game.
Notable: Louisville’s run to its since-vacated 2013 national championship began in Lexington. And it began in dominant fashion.
The Cardinals were the top overall seed for the 2013 NCAA Tournament and played like it: A 1 seed in the Midwest Regional, U of L thumped both of its opponents in first- and second-round action at Rupp Arena.
This included a 79-48 shellacking of 16 seed North Carolina A&T in the round of 64 and an 82-56 pummeling of 8 seed Colorado State in the round of 32.
Four Louisville players scored in double figures against the Rams, led by Russ Smith’s 27 points.
That year’s run of NCAA Tournament games in Rupp Arena — which marked the most recent time that men’s March Madness was played in Lexington, until this week — also featured a buzzer-beating win for 3 seed Marquette over 14 seed Davidson. Vander Blue hit a layup with one second left to give the Golden Eagles a 59-58 win.
One year after the Dream Game, Kentucky beats U of L in Rupp Arena
Score: 1 seed Kentucky defeats 5 seed Louisville 72-67.
Date: March 22, 1984.
Round: Mideast Regional semifinal.
Notable: In 1983, the Dream Game captured the imagination of the commonwealth and restored the UK-U of L basketball rivalry.
The Cardinals came out on top in that Elite Eight matchup in Knxoville, Tennessee. But the very next year, the two schools met again in March Madness in Lexington. This time, Kentucky emerged the victors.
Down four points at halftime, the Cats rallied to outscore the Cardinals by nine points in the second period. A balanced scoring effort for Joe B. Hall’s Wildcats featured 15 points each from Dickey Beal and Jim Master, along with 14 points from Melvin Turpin and 10 from Winston Bennett. Sam Bowie grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked three shots as part of UK’s Twin Towers lineup with Turpin.
Louisville got 25 points from Lancaster Gordon in his final college game, as well as 22 points from Milt Wagner.
Backed by Big Blue support, Kentucky went on to beat 2 seed Illinois in the Mideast Regional finals in Rupp to advance to the Final Four in Seattle. UK lost by 13 points in the national semifinal to Georgetown, one year before the Hoyas made it to the NCAA title game again in Rupp.
UK also beat Louisville 65-44 during the 1983-84 regular season in Rupp.
In January 2024, Kentucky honored its 1984 Final Four team during a home win over Georgia, a game which also featured the home debut of ex-Cat Zvonimir Ivisic.
Honorable mention
▪ 6 seed Michigan defeats 1 seed Ohio State 75-71 in overtime in the 1992 Southeast Regional finals.
▪ 3 seed Michigan defeats 2 seed North Carolina 92-87 in a 1989 Southeast Regional semifinal.
▪ 5 seed Indiana defeats 1 seed Duke 74-73 in a 2002 South Regional semifinal.
▪ 10 seed Kent State defeats 3 seed Pittsburgh 78-73 in overtime in a 2002 South Regional semifinal.
2025 men’s NCAA Tournament schedule at Rupp Arena
Thursday
▪ 8 seed Louisville (27-7) plays 9 seed Creighton (24-10) at 12:15 p.m. as part of the South Regional (Atlanta).
▪ 1 seed Auburn, the tournament’s top overall seed, plays 16 seed Alabama State (20-15) at 2:50 p.m. as part of the South Regional (Atlanta).
▪ 2 seed Tennessee (27-7) plays 15 seed Wofford (19-15) at 6:50 p.m. as part of the Midwest Regional (Indianapolis).
▪ 7 seed UCLA (22-10) plays 10 seed Utah State (26-7) at 9:25 p.m. as part of the Midwest Regional (Indianapolis).
This story was originally published March 19, 2025 at 6:30 AM.
