It was fitting that the first game in Rupp Arena opened with a game against his alma mater. Jack Givern, Mike Phillips and Rick Robey took the Jayhawks behind the woodshed in a dominant 27-point victory.
1978: #10 Kentucky 67, #5 Kansas 68
1989: UK 95, #2 Kansas 150
In Rick Pitino’s first season at Kentucky, the Cats took a beating, the second-largest margin of defeat in program history. My favorite Rick Pitino-UK story comes from Gene Wojciechowski’s The Last Great Game:
The Kansas lead grew. UK was out of timeouts.