January 24th: On this date...

... in 1970, your University of Kentucky Wildcats moved to 14-0 on the season with an exciting 109-96 win at Memorial Coliseum against “Pistol” Pete Maravich and the LSU Tigers. Pistol Pete scored 55 points on 21-44 shooting, but Adolph Rupp’s team was content to play 5-on-1 all night long and give the Pistol every look he wanted. Big Blue had a balanced attack behind superstar Dan Issel (35 points - 10 rebounds), Larry Steele (17 points - 11 rebounds), Mike Pratt (19 points - 4 rebounds), Terry Mills (22 points - 4 rebounds), and Bob McCowan (12 points). It was the fifth time The Pistol had played Kentucky, and the fifth time he had gone home with a loss. His career averages versus UK were an absurd: 20-46 FG, 12-15 FT, 7.33 RPG, 52 PPG.

According to Jon Scott’s site, midway through the second half, The Pistol passed Elvin Hayes to become the NCAA’s second leading scorer ever. The game was stopped and the PA announcer told the crowd about the feat. Adolph Rupp quickly responded, “Why the hell do they have to announce that?” It was Rupp’s World, everyone else was just passing through.

Big Blue Booyah on Tom Leach