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Knoxville And GainesvilleToughest Test So Far
By the lime the UK Wildeats wake up Sunday morning, they should have an excellent idea of just how good their chances are of winning the regular-season Southeastern Conference championship.
Going into this week's action, the Wildcats owned a flashy 18-3 overall record and a 10-3 mark in the SEC after sweeping games last week over Auburn and Alabama.
But that's history.
Facing the 'Cats this week is perhaps Kentucky's toughest assignment of the entire season, a pair of games on the road to what has been the league's top team-Floridamost of the season after first journeying to Knoxville, the 'Cats' most dreaded city in the entire country.
For Kentucky to establish itself as the solid leader in the conference race with less than three weeks remaining, it must win both games because a couple of clubs, namely Vanderbilt and LSU, have suddenly crept into the picture.
Going into games over the weekend, UK's top three challengers were only down one game in the loss column. But there was a great assist last Wednesday when Georgia upset Florida in Athens.
Suddenly, Kentucky is not only back in the race, but the 'Cats are actually the chasee rather than the chaser.
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Of Kentucky's three losses this season, the 'Cats have already beaten two of the three teams and this Saturday they get the opportunity to even the score with the Florida Gators.
But first there is a small matter of the 'Cats making their annual trip to K-town.
Unlike trips to Knoxville during the Adolph Rupp, Joe B. Hall and early-Eddie Sutton eras, the Big Blue won't be playing in Stokely Athletics Center.
And that is welcomed news to both the 'Cats and their fans. Over the past 16 years. Kentucky has managed only two victories while taking on the Big Orange in K-town.
Kentucky did win two other games in Stokely, believe it or not, but only once in each of the last two decades. First. UK defeated Florida State in the Mideast Regional on the way to their 1978 NCAA national championship. The second victory came over the Indiana Hoosiers in the semifinals of the Mideast Regional during the 1982-83 season.
For Kentucky, the 'Cats hope to launch a new beginning in Tennessee's sparkling, new 25,000-seat arena.
Some people believe Tennessee won't enjoy as much of a homecourt advantage in the new arena because of its size. Some Kentucky fans agree that the Wildcats suffered a drop in homecourt advantage when the 'Cats moved from Memorial Coliseum to Rupp back in 1976.
UT coach Don DeVoe begs to differ. Says DeVoe, "I see it as an opportunity to have 25,000 fans screaming for Tennessee instead of the 12,700 in Stokely."  With that in mind, there are reports mat- Kentucky- may- see- the- largest, number
Stokley Center's Now History, But
of Big Blue fans at a Kentucky-Tennessee basketball game in Knoxville since the series began back in 1910. Reports are that Kentucky could have as many as 1.500 fans in the new arena.
Don't be surprised if the new arena enjoys its largest attendance of its young history.
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Looking back at the history of Stokley Athletics Center, I'm reminded of some of the most memorable games involving the Kentucky Wildcats.
Perhaps the biggest game of the Joe B. Hall era didn't even involve the Tennessee Vols. The game would have to be the Florida State (then coached by Hugh Durham), in the 1978 Mideast Regional when Hall's 'Cats were trailing at the half and he put his entire career on the line by benching three starters and inserting reserves Dwane Casey, LaVon Williams and Freddie Cowan to start the second half.
The gamble paid off as the 'Cats fought back and went on to win the national championship. Had UK lost that game, there are some who say Hall would not have been around to retire in 1985.
The most memorable game for me as a reporter with this publication came in 1981-82 when Melvin Turpin poured in 28 points and UK still lost 70-66 in a game which I didn't think Kentucky would ever lose.
Turpin simply was phenominal. throughout the 40 minutes, but it was at that point that I realized that Kentucky truly was jinxed in Stokely.
That all changed in 1985 when Eddie Sutton took his charges into Knoxville with Kenny Walker. Roger Harden & Co. and escaped with a 62-60 victory.
Then last year, reality returned as the Vols won a 75-68 decision. I guess it was only a fitting way to close the Kentucky-Tennessee series in Stokely.
Even with all those games, the most disappointing loss in history had to be the 69-62 loss suffered by Rupp's Runts in 1966 at a time when the 'Cats were bidding for an undefeated season.
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What About The Knoxville Jinx?
perfect 23-0 record and had been pushed only twice by SEC teams. In fact, Kentucky had beaten the Vols a week earlier in Lexington by a score of 78-64. It was one of only two losses for the 'Cats, the other being the 72-65 defeat suffered at the hands of Texas Western in the NCAA championship game.
To say Kentucky fans anxiously await the first Kentucky-Tennessee game in the new arena would be an understatement.
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And then it will be a trip to the sunny South and the Florida Gators.
Just a couple weeks ago it appeared Norm Sloan's Gators were about to make a rout of the league race. Then Florida dropped three of its next four, including a stunning homecourt upset at the hands of Auburn.
Hopes ran high for the Gators during the preseason and dreams of their first-ever SEC title only heightened when Florida won the preseason Big Apple NTT. After that, there were some hot and cold moments.
But the low point definitely came last week when the Gators lost back-to-back games against Auburn and Georgia.
For Florida, this Saturday's battle with Kentucky will definitely be a win-or-else situation. A loss to Kentucky and the Gators can forget even a piece of the SEC title. In fact, a victory over Kentucky won't insure Florida of the title because the Gators still have to close the regular season on Sunday, March 6 in Baton Rouge, the same place they'll return four days later to play the SEC post season tournament.
For Florida, it would be a dream come true to get back in the driver's seat and enjoy a two-game regular season sweep over the 'Cats, something they haven't done since 1972.
For Kentucky, nothing would be sweeter than to put a lock on the league race by doing it the hard way, with a pair of victories over two of their most-hated rivals and on the road.
Stay tuned.
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Coach Jerry Claiborne and his staff corralled one of their largest and finest recruiting classes since their arrival to the Bluegrass state six years ago according to recruiting coordinator Dick Redding.
Claiborne said he was very pleased with this year's crop, saying that they have great size, both height-wise and scale-wise. Claiborne also said he is very pleased with his signees out of junior college.
There are some who say this year's crop of Bluegrass state products are down from the past couple years. And even with that observation, Kentucky failed to sign several who opted to leave the state to pursue their goals elsewhere.
On that subject, Jerry said only he was pleased with those who signed with UK and that he wasn't interested in worrying about those not wearing the Big Blue.
The biggest disappointment had to be the loss of Kentucky's Mr. Football. Kurt Barber of Paducah Tilghman. who decided to head west and play for Southern Cal.
It is the second year in a row that the state's top player has decided to go elsewhere. Last season, Newport Catholic's Frank Jacobs signed with Notre Dame.
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HITS AND MISSES . . . With basketball recruiting starting to heat up again, it appears that Kentucky's wish list is pretty short, perhaps only Californian Don MacLean and perhaps Clay County's Richie Farmer . . . Entering last week's game against Auburn, Kentucky's top three free throw shooters were Ed Davender, Rob Lock and Rex Chapman, and they were all hitting within one-tenth of a percentage point of each other and all three were over the 83 percent mark. Then guess what happensthe 'Cats hit only 11 of 21 against Auburn . . . Someone should tell SEC color analyst Jor-dy Hultberg that Georgia led the entire second half and actually beat Florida last week in the game he worked with Tom Hammond. If I didn't know better. I'd swear he must have played for Norm Sloan rather than Dale Brown and LSU . . . My vote, if it were taken today, for the SEC Coach Of The Year, would have to go to Vanderbilt coach CM. Newton. What he had done with a bunch of players (some would say they don't qualify as players because of certain basketball cliches) in winning 15 of their first 20 games has been nothing less than fantastic and I'm sure those rabid Vandy fans will agree. And Vandy is making sure the basketball world is aware of the three-point shot . . . When the going got tough, the tough got going for the 'Cats in the final five minutes against Auburn last week as they turned to an underclassmen combination. Frosh Eric Manuel and sophomore Rex Chapman scored all of UK's points in the final stretch. Chapman finished the game with 4> season-hjgh 25 points and Manuel add-ed'lQ-.'T.v."".'-*"*'/ * * **,j.t i j * * 4>V