Remember 1987 Kentucky-Oklahoma TV Showdown at Rupp Arena?
- KySportsStyle.com
- 21 hours ago
- 4 min read
By Jamie H. Vaught
KySportsStyle.com Magazine
When Oklahoma visited Kentucky Wednesday night in Lexington as the Wildcats defeated the Sooners 94-78, winning for the seventh time in the last eight SEC games, the game sure brought back memories when both teams last met at Rupp Arena back in 1987.
During my early days as a sportswriter, I remember making two trips to Rupp Arena from Somerset on U.S. 27 for two consecutive days -- Saturday and Sunday -- when I was writing columns for a local daily newspaper as well as Lexington's The Cats' Pause magazine.
And I covered two very exciting, season-ending matchups with second-year coach Eddie Sutton's Wildcats, led by freshman sensation Rex Chapman, fighting for a bid to play in the NCAA Tournament. As it turned out, unranked Kentucky won both games, narrowly beating Ole Miss 64-63 on Saturday and then No. 12 Oklahoma 75-74 on Sunday.
The UK-OU non-conference contest included an emotional pregame ceremony, honoring seniors James Blackmon and Paul Andrews. Even 88-year-old Happy Chandler, a former Kentucky governor, U.S. Senator and Major League Baseball commissioner, sang "My Old Kentucky Home."
But OU coach Billy Tubbs and the Sooners thought they had the game won on a last-second tip-in by forward David Johnson. It was too late, accoording to the officials. They chased the officials on the floor, arguing the basket had beaten the game-ending horn.
It was a controversial ending with a judgment call by the officials as the television replays couldn't be used to determine the correct outcome. However, TV replays appeared to support the officials' decision as the player had the ball in his hand with no time left on the scoreboard.
Understandably, a very frustrated Tubbs was testy with the media after the game. He said UK is a good team but thought his team was better.
While at Oklahoma, Tubbs was a two-time national coach of the year and a four-time Big Eight Conference coach of the year.
Junior guard Ed Davender and Chapman led the Wildcats with 21 and 20 points, respectively. Six-foot-7 forward Richard Madison had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
The win helped the Wildcats make the NCAA Tournament with an 18-10 record, including 10-8 in SEC, despite losing the first game in the SEC Tournament. Kentucky lost to Ohio State in the Big Dance, finishing the disappointing season with an 18-11 mark.
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With Wednesday night's victory over the Sooners, UK now leads the series 6-0, including two wins last season. The Wildcats won a pair of one-point games over OU, winning 83-82 in Norman and 85-84 in the SEC Tournament in Nashville. Kentucky's Otega Oweh, a former Sooner for two years, hit game-winners in the waning seconds in both contests.
And it was Oweh again Wednesday night who hit a season-high 24 points for the second straight game.
Said UK assistant coach Jason Hart on Oweh, "As coaches you always want to nitpick, but he’s a bad dude. Otega Oweh is a really good basketball player. He’s consistent, he’s our leader. You know, sometimes I kinda be in awe watching him. He’s been playing at a high level and that’s why he was preseason SEC player of the year."
Oklahoma coach Porter Moser praised Oweh and 6-foot-10 junior Brandon Garrison.
“Otega is just an elite player," said Moser. "He can knock down the shot, and he puts you in a real decision-making mode of ball screens, because he can turn the corner on you, and now he’s making really good decisions passing out of it. He’s becoming a complete player, he’s so strong on defense. I think that’s where Brandon really is because they were switching, and he’s able to move his speed and switch. His physical presence on the boards was a big factor.”
Garrison notched his first double-double as a Wildcat with 20 points and 11 rebounds. He also became UK's seventh player to score at least 20 points in a game this season, making this the first Kentucky team to have seven different players to score at least 20 points in a game in the same season since 2017-18.
The Wildcats hit 30 of 60 baskets for 50 percent, including 12 of 26 three-pointers. Kentucky is 8-0 this season when shooting at least 50 percent.
Unranked UK, which improved to 16-7 overall (7-3 in SEC), will play host to No. 25 Tennessee Saturday night. The 8:30 p.m. ET game will be shown on ESPN.
Jamie H. Vaught, a longtime sports columnist in Kentucky, is the author of seven books about UK basketball, including recently published “Unforgettable Journey with the Cats: Inside Kentucky Hoops Madness.” Now a retired college professor who taught at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College in Middlesboro, he is the editor and founder of KySportsStyle.com Magazine. You can follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @KySportsStyle or reach him via email at KySportsStyle44@gmail.com.
