December 23rd: On this date...

..... in 1993, Jeff Brassow tipped in an errant shot by Roderick Rhodes as time expired to give your University of Kentucky Wildcats the Maui Invitational Championship. The tip gave Kentucky a 93-92 win over Arizona in what was Big Blue’s first ever trip to Maui. Bill Raftery exploded from the telecast shouting, “BRASS-OW... BRASS-OW... COMES UP BIG!!!" Rick Pitino went ballistic rushing the court in celebration grabbing Brassow and doing a doe-si-doe around the court (he managed to keep his pants on though). He then realized Lute Olsen was waiting for him to shake hands and he quickly wiped the smile off his face. Tournament MVP Travis Ford led all Cats with 25 points on 7-14 3-point shooting in the final contest. As a team, Kentucky went 15-34 from behind the arc, but only 6-7 from the free throw line. Arizona was led by one of the most prolific backcourts in Arizona history, Khalid Reeves and Damon Stoudamire. Basketball Gods took note of this game and Arizona cashed in its voucher a few years later in the most heart-breaking fashion. I asked the NCAA for video of this game and they replied, "We'll put it online when Enes Kanter gets in a college game." How rude.

Big Blue Booyah on Tom Leach