December 7th: On this date...

... in 1996, fresh off winning their sixth National Championship, your University of Kentucky Wildcats thrashed Robert Montgomery Knight and Indiana University in Freedom Hall, 99-65. The Hoosiers were ranked #8 that day, so it sent a message to everyone in college basketball that Kentucky was coming out swinging in defense of its title. Derek Anderson (30 points) and Ron Mercer (26 points) proved too athletic for the Chair-Throwing Candy-Stripers as the lead had grown to 55-31 by halftime. Even the human victory cigar Steve Masiello got in for three minutes and scored three points, all on free throws. I’m not going to lie, watching a young Rick Pitino blast Bobby Knight and Indiana each year was one of my favorite memories of the Pitino Era. The amount of frustration of Knight’s face during the games was abundant, as I’m sure we got to witness almost all of his “game-faces.”

Big Blue Booyah on Tom Leach