One city is becoming the place Kentucky basketball dreams go to die
In the 2014 NCAA Tournament, the city of Indianapolis was site to two of the most electric moments in Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball history.
During UK’s round of 16 grudge match with intrastate rival Louisville, Kentucky freshman guard Aaron Harrison rose from the deep left corner and buried a three-pointer with 39 seconds left that put the Wildcats ahead to stay in what became a 74-69 victory.
Two days later, Harrison did it again. The guard sank a cold-blooded trey from the left wing with 2.3 seconds left to beat Michigan in the round of eight and send the Wildcats to the Final Four.
In retrospect, those two clutch shots apparently used up much of Kentucky’s allotment of positive mojo for the city of Indianapolis.
“Naptown” is now becoming the place where UK basketball dreams go to die.
UK’s shocking overtime loss to No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s in the 2022 NCAA tourney round of 64 last month at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in downtown Indy was only the latest in a series of Kentucky basketball nightmares that have taken place in the Indiana state capital.
Since Harrison’s heroics, UK is 2-4 in Indy and has lost its last three games in the city. Along with the Saint Peter’s stunner, Kentucky’s recent Indianapolis woes include two other especially jarring defeats.
In the 2015 Final Four at Lucas Oil Stadium, UK suffered a gut-wrenching, come-from-ahead 71-64 loss to Wisconsin that ended UK’s (38-1) bid for a perfect season.
Four seasons later, Kentucky endured a 118-84 humiliation at the hands of Duke in the Champions Classic in Indy.
It has been quite a change of fortune for UK in Indianapolis, a city that had previously been good to the Cats. Kentucky’s recent struggles in Indy made me wonder how the Cats’ track record in Indianapolis compares to the Wildcats’ performance in other significant U.S. cities.
Here — thanks in large part to information gleaned from Jon Scott’s bigbluehistory.net — is the answer:
Atlanta
UK record in the city: 70-33.
UK record in the city in NCAA Tournament games: 5-3.
Most painful loss endured by Kentucky in the city: In the 1986 NCAA tourney round of eight, Eddie Sutton’s Wildcats lost 59-57 to an LSU team they had beaten three times previously that season.
Chicago
UK record in the city: 23-12.
UK record in the city in NCAA Tournament games: 3-3.
Most painful loss endured by Kentucky in the metro area: As defending national champions, Adolph Rupp’s Cats fell to intrastate foe Louisville 76-61 in the 1959 NCAA Tournament round of 16 in Evanston.
Dallas
UK record in the city: 3-3.
UK record in the city in NCAA Tournament games: 3-1.
Most painful loss endured by Kentucky in the metro area: Fell 60-54 to Connecticut in 2014 NCAA Tournament finals in Arlington.
Indianapolis
UK record in the city: 16-11.
UK record in the city in NCAA Tournament games: 7-3.
Most painful loss endured by Kentucky in the city: The Cats were two victories from an undefeated national championship when upset by Wisconsin in the 2015 Final Four..
Los Angeles
UK record in the city: 2-4.
UK record in the city in NCAA Tournament games: 0-1.
Most painful loss endured by Kentucky in the metro area: Lost to Marquette in the 2008 NCAA tourney round of 64 in Anaheim — Billy Gillispie’s only NCAA Tournament trip as UK head man.
Louisville
UK record in the city: 131-36.
UK record in the city in NCAA Tournament games: 5-1.
Most painful loss endured by Kentucky in the city: Lost to Ohio State in 1961 NCAA tourney round of eight in Freedom Hall.
Nashville
UK record in the city: 87-34.
UK record in the city in NCAA Tournament games: 5-2.
Most-painful loss endured by Kentucky in the city: In UK’s 1982 NCAA Tournament opener, Cats were upset by No. 11 seed Middle Tennessee State.
New Orleans
UK record in the city: 37-14.
UK record in the city in NCAA Tournament games: 7-2.
Most painful loss endured by Kentucky in the city: Fell to Michigan in overtime in 1993 NCAA tourney Final Four.
New York
UK record in the city: 38-15.
UK record in the city in NCAA Tournament games: 8-1.
Most painful loss endured by Kentucky in the city: Lost to Loyola Chicago in 1949 NIT opener in a postseason when UK aspired to win both the NIT and NCAA Tournament titles (and the Cats went on claim the latter championship).
Philadelphia
UK record in the city: 11-6.
UK record in the city in NCAA Tournament games: 3-3.
Most-painful loss endured by Kentucky in the city: “There’s the pass to Laettner …”
For a traditional basketball power like UK located in the upper south/lower midwest, Indianapolis is a bad city to have emerge as “cursed” because Indy is such a mainstay in the NCAA Tournament rotation.
Indianapolis will serve as host for the NCAA tourney rounds of 64 and 32 in 2024; the Midwest Region rounds of 16 and eight in 2025; and the Final Four in 2026.
Between now and then, maybe Kentucky can figure out a way to reverse its emerging “Indy hex.”
