John Clay: Kentucky's NCAA Tournament history in Indianapolis includes joy, but also pain

John Clay, Lexington Herald-Leader on Mar 27, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

When Kentucky plays Tennessee on Friday night in a Midwest Regional semifinal game at Lucas Oil Stadium, it will be the latest chapter in a roller coaster ride of UK NCAA Tournament games in Indianapolis.

A Hoosier-state history:

The Rick Pitino era

— 1997 Final Four: The No. 1 seed in the West Regional, Kentucky beat Midwest Regional No. 1 seed Minnesota 78-69 in the RCA Dome. Ron Mercer led the Wildcats with 19 points. Anthony Epps scored 13 points and dished seven assists while Cameron Mills scored 10 points in 11 minutes as the defending national champs earned the second of what would be three straight trips to the national title game.

— 1997 national championship: Rick Pitino’s Wildcats fell short of winning their second consecutive title, but just barely. Arizona outscored Kentucky 10-5 in overtime to claim the title 84-79. Coach Lute Olson’s guard tandem of Miles Simon and Mike Bibby were the difference. Simon scored 30 points. Bibby scored 19 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished four assists. Kentucky missed eight of its 17 free throws.

The Tubby Smith era

— 2005 first round: The No. 2 seed in the Austin Regional, Tubby Smith’s Cats beat No. 15 seed Eastern Kentucky 72-64 at the RCA Dome. Former UK guard Travis Ford coached the Colonels. Kelenna Azubuike and Chuck Hayes each scored 16 points for the Cats. Hayes also grabbed nine rebounds. Matt Witt led EKU with 21 points.

— 2005 second round: Azubuike and Hayes each scored 19 points as the Wildcats beat No. 7 seed Cincinnati 69-60. Coached by Bob Huggins, Cincinnati led 35-33 at halftime before UK rallied in the second half. Center Randolph Morris registered a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds as UK advanced to Austin, Texas, where it lost an overtime game to Michigan State in the regional finals.

The John Calipari era

— 2014 regional semifinal: Seeded No. 8 in the Midwest Regional, Kentucky upset No. 4 seed Louisville 74-69 before 41,072 at Lucas Oil Stadium. It was the second NCAA Tournament meeting between John Calipari at Kentucky and Rick Pitino at Louisville. Cal had beaten Pitino in the 2012 Final Four. This time, freshman Julius Randle scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, while fellow freshman Andrew Harrison hit the go-ahead 3-point shot with 39 seconds remaining.

— 2014 regional finals: Aaron Harrison was the hero again, sinking a 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds left to beat No. 2 seed Michigan 75-72 and send the Wildcats to the Final Four for the third time in four years. Coached by John Beilein, Michigan got 24 points from Nik Stauskas. Meanwhile, Julius Randle scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Cats, who ended up losing to Connecticut in the national title game in Arlington, Texas.

— 2015 Final Four: In one of the more disappointing losses in program history, overall No. 1 seed UK lost to West Regional No. 1 seed Wisconsin 71-64 in a national semifinal at Lucas Oil Stadium. John Calipari’s club entered the game two wins shy of a perfect 40-0 season. But Frank Kaminsky scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as Bo Ryan’s Badgers outscored UK 35-28 in the second half to reach the national title game, where Wisconsin lost to Duke. Karl Anthony-Towns’ 16 points led the Wildcats.

— 2017 first round: The No. 2 seed in the South Regional, Kentucky opened NCAA Tournament play with a 79-70 win over Northern Kentucky at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. D’Aaron Fox scored 19 points, Isaiah Briscoe added 17 and Bam Adebayo scored 15 points and grabbed 18 rebounds as UK beat the Norse, coached by John Brannen.

— 2017 second round: Back in 2014, Kentucky had upset previously unbeaten Wichita State in the second round of the tournament. Three years later, the Cats beat Gregg Marshall’s No. 10-seeded Shockers again in the second round 65-62. Bam Adebayo scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the television camera zeroed in on Marshall’s wife, who spent most of the afternoon screaming at the officials. UK advanced to Memphis where the Cats lost a heartbreaker to No. 1 seed North Carolina in the South Regional finals.

— 2022 first round: If the loss to Wisconsin was one of the more disappointing in UK history, the 85-79 opening-round overtime loss to Saint Peter’s at Gainbridge Fieldhouse was one of the more stunning. Kentucky was the No. 2 seed in the East Regional; Saint Peter’s the No. 15 seed. That didn’t matter to Shaheen Holloway’s Peacocks, who got 27 points from Daryl Banks and 20 from Doug Edert. Key turnovers down the stretch abruptly and unexpectedly ended UK’s season.

Two years later, after another first-round NCAA loss — 80-76 to No. 14 seed Oakland in Pittsburgh — John Calipari left Lexington to become the head coach at Arkansas and UK hired Mark Pope as his successor.

____