Kentucky players and coaches joined UK fans remembering former UK coach Joe B. Hall before Saturday's convincing win over Tennessee. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Walking into Rupp Arena today the first thing fans saw when they looked to the rafters was the light shining on the retired jersey of former coach Joe B. Hall. This was a special game. This one was for Coach Hall. Coach Calipari had a rolled-up program in his hand as he walked to the bench and on the first play of the game he called the 1-3-1 zone defense that Hall loved — and Calipari never uses. Again, this one was one for Coach Hall.
There was something special about the atmosphere today in Rupp. For the first time in two years the place was rocking. Fans filled their seats early, shed tears as the tribute to Coach Hall played on the Jumbotron, and hung their heads reverently for a moment of silence to reflect on the Coach the replaced Adloph Rupp. The magic didn’t stop there.
The Cats scored 107 points, the most since the 2017 season. It wasn’t just points, it was from every position on the court. The final 67.9 shooting percentage was the Cats best of the season and was accomplished against Tennessee, ranked number 2 defensively nationally. The Cats also shot 61.1 percent from the 3 spot, a season-high also.
TyTy Washington led all scorers with a career-high 28 points followed by Sahvir Wheeler with 21 (which included a 3-pointer because that is the kind of day it was.) Kellan Grady dropped 16 and Davion Mintz came off the bench to contribute 10 points on five field-goal attempts.
John Fulkerson, who has played at Tennessee since my first child was born 34 years ago, has always been a thorn in Kentucky’s side. No matter how many times he flopped hoping for the charge call he headed to the bus with 0 points in 20 minutes of playing time against Kentucky.
According to ESPN Kentucky is just the second team to shoot 65 plus percent from the floor and 60 percent from 3-point range against a Division 1 opponent this season.
Can fans expect this kind of performance every game? Of course not, but it does give glimpse to what this team is capable of on any given night.
This one was for you, Coach Hall.
4 Responses
RIP Coach. The Cats were blessed yesterday.
Well said Pup
Great tribute Tina. Joe B. will always be special to me. He was the coach at UK when I was in college. I don’t think he will ever get the credit he deserves. He held "the nation" together during difficult times. Not all UK fans were happy with Coach Rupp being forced out. The ’78 team was great but the ’77 team was also awesome they just ran into Dean Smith’s four corners slow down ball. My personal favorite Joe B. team was ’75. My freshman year at UK that was my team and I’m convinced they would have won the Championship if Wooden had not decided to announce his retirement. No way they were going to let him lose that last game. RIP Coach Hall you were the glue that held us together for the future.
Well said on all counts Darlene
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