BEST of 7 – 1986 Kentucky vs. Louisville

3-20-kwalker

(UK Athletics Photo)

A school from Kentucky was expected to win the national championship in 1985-86, but it was Louisville that pulled off the feat instead of Kentucky, who stumbled in the region final to LSU.  What would happen if Kentucky and Louisville played a best-of-seven series? We simulated a best-of-seven series using www.whatifsports.com, one of the top sports simulation sites on the web. Each team’s stats and trends are in their database, and here is what it gave us.

BACKGROUND – Eddie Sutton took over the Kentucky program in 1985 following the retirement of Joe B. Hall.  Led by Kenny Walker, Ed Davender, and Winston Bennett, Kentucky (32-4) won the SEC title and finished the regular season with a No. 3 ranking.  The Wildcats beat Alabama and LSU on their way to the SEC Tournament title.  They again beat Alabama in the NCAA Southeast Region Semifinal before a fourth matchup with LSU resulted in a surprising 59-57 loss.

Louisville (32-7) followed a third-place finish in the NIT in 1985 with a run to the Final Four in 1986.  As a No. 2 seed, Louisville eased through to the Final Four where they expected to see Kentucky.  However, LSU was there and fell to Louisville 88-77.  Louisville went on to beat Duke 72-69 for the school’s second national title.

Kentucky beat Louisville 69-64 at Rupp Arena during the regular season.

 

GAME ONE – Louisville 91 Kentucky 76 (Louisville leads 1-0)

Louisville used a 16-3 run midway through the second half to grab a 91-76 win over Kentucky and claim the first game of the Best-of-7.

A Kenny Walker dunk off a feed from Winston Bennett pulled Kentucky to within 55-51 with 13:42 left. Milt Wagner answered with a bucket that began the run and ended with a Billy Thompson three-point play with 10:53 left.

Herbert Crook scored 16 of his team-high 20 points in the second half.  Freshman Pervis Ellison added 17 points, and Billy Thompson chipped in with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Ed Davender led Kentucky with 18 points.  Kenny Walker added 17 points.

 

Kentucky (76) – Davender 18, Walker 17, Bennett 11, Harden 7, Blackmon 7, Jenkins 5, Lock 4, Thomas 3, Byrd 2 Andrews 2

Louisville (91) – Crook 20, Ellison 17, Wagner 16, Thompson 11, Hall 8, McSwain 6, Payne 3, Kimbro 3, Walls 2, Abram 2, West 2, Valentine 1

FG – UK 49.2%; UL 55.9%

FT – UK 18-28; UL 18-29

REB – UK 29; UL 42

 

GAME TWO – Kentucky 78 Louisville 72 (Series tied 1-1)

Kenny Walker scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Kentucky to a 78-72 win over Louisville to tie the Best-of-7 series at one game apiece.

James Blackmon scored Kentucky’s final eight points as they were able to hold off a Louisville rally that saw them trim a 15-point UK lead down to six points late in the game.

Blackmon finished with 17 points, and Davender added 13 points for the Wildcats, who shot 54-percent from the field.

Herbert Crook and Milt Wagner each scored 17 points for Louisville, who trailed 43-39 at halftime.  The Cardinals outrebounded Kentucky 36-28 but turned the ball over 17 times.

 

Kentucky (78) – Walker 25, Blackmon 17, Davender 13, Bennett 12, Harden 8, Jenkins 2, Lock 1

Louisville (72) – Wagner 17, Crook 17, Ellison 12, Thompson 10, Hall 8, Kimbro 4, McSwain 2, Payne 2

FG – UK 54.1%; UL 51.7%

FT – UK 12-16; UL 10-17

REB – UK 28; UL 36

 

GAME THREE – Louisville 90 Kentucky 87 (Louisville leads series 2-1)

Louisville’s starting five scored all but six of the Cardinals’ points to lead them to a 90-87 win to move out to a 2-1 advantage in the Best-of-7.

Herbert Crook scored 22 points, and Milt Wagner added 21 points for the Cardinals.  Billy Thompson (17/13) and Pervis Ellison (12/10) both had double-doubles as the Cardinals held off a second half Kentucky rally.

Kenny Walker scored 18 of his 26 points in the second half.  The Wildcats trailed by 18 points with 12:32 left.  Ed Davender scored six straight points, and Irving Thomas came off the bench to score consecutive buckets to get the Wildcats to within 10 points.

Walker and James Blackmon combined to score Kentucky’s next eight points to cut the Louisville lead to 82-77 with 4:25 left.

A pair of Rob Lock free throws got Kentucky to within 85-81 with 3:22 left.  Blackmon and Billy Thompson traded buckets to make the score 87-83.  After Walker made a pair of free throws, he was called for an offensive foul with 2:07 left.

Louisville hit enough free throws in the final two minutes to stave off the Wildcat rally.

Blackmon added 13 points for Kentucky, and Bennett scored 11 points.

Louisville hit 30-of-40 free throws in the game, while Kentucky was 23-of-28.

 

Kentucky (87) – Walker 26, Blackmon 13, Bennett 11, Davender 10, Harden 8, Jenkins 6, Thomas 5, Lock 2 Andrews 2 Byrd 2, Ziegler 2

Louisville (90) – Crook 22, Wagner 21, Thompson 17, Hall 12, Ellison 12, Kimbro 2 Abram 2, McSwain 1, West 1

FG – UK 50%; UL 49%

FT – UK 23-28; UL 30-40

REB – UK 33; UL 38

 

GAME FOUR – Kentucky 88 Louisville 86 (Series tied 2-2)

Ed Davender hit two free throws with eight seconds left to give Kentucky an 88-86 win over Louisville and even the Best-of-7 series at two games each.

Milt Wagner tied the game at 86 with 15 seconds left.  Davender took the inbounds pass and raced up the court where he was fouled in the paint by Billy Thompson as he drove to the basket.

Davender scored 20 points for the Wildcats.  Kenny Walker had 23 points to lead four Wildcats in double figures.

The game was close and featured 11 ties and 10 lead changes.  Kentucky led 48-46 at halftime.

Wagner led Louisville with 20 points.  Pervis Ellison had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.  The Cardinals shot 53-percent from the field but had 20 turnovers.

Kentucky was able to hit 18-of-22 free throws in the second half and 24-of-30 for the game.

 

Kentucky (88) – Walker 23 Davender 20, Bennett 16, Harden 12, Madison 7, Blackmon 6, Jenkins 2, Thomas 2

Louisville (86) – Wagner 20, Crook 16, Hall 14, Thompson 12, Ellison 10, Kimbro 5, McSwain 4, Walls 3, Abram 2

FG – UK 53.3%; UL 53%

FT – UK 24-30; UL 16-21

REB – UK 27; UL 38

 

GAME FIVE – Louisville 90 Kentucky 76 (Louisville leads the series 3-2)

Louisville ended the game on an 11-4 run to beat Kentucky 90-76 and take a 3-2 lead in the Best-of-7.

Billy Thompson scored eight of Louisville’s final 11 points to finish with 19 points.  Herbert Crook put together another double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Louisville led 45-41 at halftime.  Paul Andrews hit a pair of free throws to begin the second half and bring UK to within 45-43.  Crook and Pervis Ellison combined to score Louisville’s next 11 points to build a 56-48 lead.

Jeff Hall had nine points and six assists for Louisville.

Kenny Walker and Winston Bennett each scored 14 points for Kentucky.

 

Kentucky (76) – Walker 14, Bennett 14, Davender 11, Blackmon 10, Harden 8, Jenkins 8, Andrews 6, Lock 5

Louisville (90) – Thompson 19, Crook 15, Ellison 14, Wagner 13, Hall 9, Payne 7, Kimbro 6, West 3, McSwain 2, Valentine 1, Walls 1

FG – UK 42.4%; UL 45.6%

FT – UK 14-20; UL 23-29

REB – UK 26; UL 39

 

GAME SIX – Kentucky 89 Louisville 82 (Series tied 3-3)

Kentucky shot a blistering 68-percent from the field to beat Louisville 89-82 and stay alive in the Best-of-7.

The Wildcats hit 40-of-58 shots from the field but couldn’t shake the Cardinals until the final five minutes of the game.

Kenny Walker scored 19 of his game-high 28 points in the second half after battling first half foul trouble.  He knocked down 13-of-17 shots from the field.

Ed Davender added 19 points, and Richard Madison added seven points off the bench.

Roger Harden scored six points but handed out 13 assists.

Kentucky led 48-39 at halftime thanks to 12 points from James Blackmon.  Milt Wagner cut the lead to 50-44 with a bucket at the 18:19 mark of the second half.

The Wildcats built their lead to 76-62 on a Walker bucket with 8:29 left.  Louisville answered with nine straight points to cut the deficit to 76-71 with 6:32 left.

Kenny Payne scored off an assist from Jeff Hall with 4:07 left to get to within 81-77.  Walker responded with four straight points, and Louisville didn’t get any closer.

Wagner led the Cardinals with 19 points and seven assists.  Pervis Ellison scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

 

Kentucky (89) – Walker 28, Davender 19, Blackmon 15, Bennett 8, Madison 7, Harden 6, Ziegler 2, Thomas 2, Andrews 2

Louisville (82) – Wagner 19, Ellison 15, Crook 14, Thompson 9, McSwain 9, Hall 6, Abram 4, Kimbro 2, Payne 2, Walls 2

FG – UK 69%; UL 48.2%

FT – UK 9-15; UL 10-13

REB – UK 25; UL 28

 

GAME SEVEN – Kentucky 92 Louisville 80 (Kentucky wins the series 4-3)

Kenny Walker poured in 34 points and hauled down 11 rebounds to help Kentucky beat Louisville 92-80 and win of the Best-of-7.

Kentucky held on to a slight 39-38 halftime lead.  There were 12 lead changes and eight ties in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

With the game tied at 63, Richard Madison fed James Blackmon with a fast-break layup that have Kentucky the lead for good with 8:23 left.

Roger Harden scored a pair of buckets to extend the lead to 72-65.  Later, Walker added six straight points to help the Wildcats build an 84-76 advantage with 3:33 left.

Louisville managed just one field goal over the final three minutes.

In addition to Walker’s 34 points, Winston Bennett added 19 points and eight rebounds for Kentucky.

Jeff Hall paced five Cardinals in double figures with 17 points.  Pervis Ellison added 12 points and 10 rebounds.

 

Kentucky (92) – Walker 34, Bennett 19, Blackmon 14, Davender 9, Harden 6, Madison 6, Thomas 2, Andrews 2

Louisville (80) – Hall 17, Crook 13, Ellison 12, Thompson 11, Wagner 10, McSwain 7, Payne 6, Kimbro 2, Walls 2

FG – UK 46.5%; UL 44.4%

FT – UK 22-28; UL 15-18

REB – UK 34; UL 32

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE BEST-OF-7 — The Laettner Game

 

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