January 18th: On this date....

..... in 1969, your University of Kentucky Wildcats went on the road to Knoxville and became the first college basketball team to reach the 1,000 victory mark. The 69-66 win over the Tennessee Volunteers was completed playing only five players, although the five were Kentucky legends. Dan Issel led the way with 21 points and six rebounds on 8-12 shooting from the field. Current Big Blue Sports Network analyst Mike Pratt added 17 points and five rebounds on 5-7 shooting. Other lines included: Larry Steele (8-14 FG - 18 points - 6 rebounds), Mike Casey (9 points - 5 rebounds), Phil Argento (4 points - 4 rebounds). Head coach Adolph Rupp and the Boys would celebrate the milestone victory a few games later in front of the Big Blue faithful in Memorial Coliseum in a win over Vanderbilt. The celebration included a cake with 1,000 candles on it, nearly setting the entire place on fire. Once the cake was lit, players had to rush over and blow it out before the fire marshall was called. Simpler times.

Big Blue Booyah on Tom Leach