Kentucky's history in Final Four games

(updated through 2016)

UK has reached 17 Final Fours.  Like every other important statistical measure, this one places UK high on the national list - behind only UNC and UCLA.  Let's take a look at UK's results in national semifinals and title games.


Semifinals: UK is 12-5 (70.6%)

Wins: Holy Cross (1948), Illinois (1949 and 1951), Temple (1958), Duke (1966), Syracuse (1975), Arkansas (1978), UMass (1996), Minnesota (1997), Stanford (1998), Louisville (2012), Wisconsin (2014)


Losses: Dartmouth (1942), Georgetown (1984), Michigan (1993), UConn (2011), Wisconsin (2015)


In the seeded era: 5-4 (55.6%)


As a #1 seed: 3-3 (50%) - won in 96, 97 and 12; lost in 84, 93 and 15


Note: UK has only played one team seeded lower than #3 in a national semifinal - 4-seeded Louisville in 2012.


All-time semifinal team:
C Bill Spivey - 28 points in '51
F Alex Groza - 50 points combined in '48 and '49
F Jack Givens - 47 points combined in '75 and '78
G Jeff Sheppard - 27 points in '98
G Louie Dampier - 23 points in '66

Honorable mention - Anthony Davis - 18 points, 14 rebounds, 5 blocks in 2012




National title games: UK is 8-4 (67%)


Wins: Baylor (48), Oklahoma State (49), Kansas State (51), Seattle (58), Duke (78), Syracuse (96), Utah (98), Kansas (12)


Losses: UTEP (66), UCLA (75), Arizona (97), UConn (14)


In the seeded era: 3-2 (60%)


As a #1 seed: 2-1 (67%)


Note: In the seeded era, UK has met a 7 seed (UConn), two 4s (Syracuse and Arizona), a 3 (Utah) and a 2 (Kansas).


All-time title team:
C Bill Spivey - 22 points in '51
F Alex Groza - 25 points in '49
F Jack Givens - 41 points in '78
G Tony Delk - 24 points in '96
G Vernon Hatton - 30 points in '58

Honorable mention: James Young with 20 points and 7 boards in the loss to UConn, Anthony Davis had 6/16/6 against Kansas, Doron Lamb had 22 points.

Among other websites consulted, one of my main sources for this and many other posts is the peerless UK resource (and probably the best site of its kind for any sports team) known as "The Kentucky Basketball Statistics Project" operated by Jon Scott.  Available at http://www.bigbluehistory.net/bb/statistics/statistics.html

Who are the top scorers in Kentucky basketball history?

Here are the top ten cumulative scorers in UK history:

1) DAN ISSEL - 2138

2) KENNY WALKER - 2080

3) JACK GIVENS - 2038

4) KEITH BOGANS - 1923

5) TONY DELK - 1890

6) JAMAL MASHBURN - 1843

7) KEVIN GREVEY - 1801

8) TAYSHAUN PRINCE - 1775

9) COTTON NASH - 1770

10) ALEX GROZA - 1744


And the top ten per-game AVERAGES:

 1) DAN ISSEL (1st in total scoring) - 25.8 points per game from 1967-68 through 1969-70 (only played 3 seasons)


2) COTTON NASH (9th in total scoring) - 22.7 points per game from 1961-62 through 1963-64 (only played 3 seasons)

3) KEVIN GREVEY (7th in total scoring) - 21.4 points per game from 1972-73 through 1974-75 (only played 3 seasons)


4) BOB BURROW (56th in total scoring) - 20.1 points per game from 1954-55 through 1955-56 (only played 2 seasons)

5) JAMAL MURRAY (102nd in total scoring) - 20.0 points per game in 2015-2016 (only played 1 season)


6) LOUIE DAMPIER (12th in total scoring) - 19.7 points per game from 1964-65 through 1966-67 (only played 3 seasons)

7) BILL SPIVEY (39th in total scoring) - 19.3 points per game from 1949-50 through 1950-51 (only played 2 seasons)

8) CLIFF HAGAN (17th in total scoring) - 19.2 points per game from 1950-51 through 1953-54 (only played 3 seasons)

9) JAMAL MASHBURN (6th in total scoring) - 18.8 points per game from 1990-91 through 1992-93 (only played 3 seasons)

10) MIKE CASEY (14th in total scoring) - 18.7 points per game from 1967-68 through 1970-71 (only played 3 seasons)

Interestingly, there has been a shift in the scoring trends at UK lately.  Notice that eight of the top ten scoring averages are from before 1980?

Only four players since 1980 have finished their UK careers with an average of 17 points per game or higher:

Rex Chapman (17.6 ppg)

Jamal Mashburn (18.8 ppg)

Brandon Knight (17.3 ppg)

Jamal Murray (20.0 ppg)

In spite of the trend since 1980 of lower "star" scoring averages for UK teams, we might see the second player in two years to break into the top 10 - Malik Monk!