1977–78 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team

1977–78 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
1977–78 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
NCAA tournament National Champions; SEC regular season champions
National Championship Game, ; W 94-88 vs. Duke
Conference	Southeast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
Record	30–2 (16–2 SEC)
Head coach	Joe B. Hall (6th season);
Assistant coaches	Dick Parsons; Leonard Hamilton; Joe Dean, Jr.;
Captain	Jack Givens; Rick Robey
Home arena	Rupp Arena
	Seasons ← 1976–77 1978–79 →

1977–78 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 1 Kentucky	16	–	2	.889	30	–	2	.938
Mississippi State	13	–	5	.722	18	–	9	.667
LSU	12	–	6	.667	18	–	9	.667
Alabama	11	–	7	.611	17	–	10	.630
Florida	8	–	10	.444	15	–	12	.556
Auburn	8	–	10	.444	13	–	14	.481
Tennessee	6	–	12	.333	11	–	16	.407
Vanderbilt	6	–	12	.333	10	–	17	.370
Georgia	5	–	13	.278	11	–	16	.407
Ole Miss	5	–	13	.278	10	–	17	.370

Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The 1977–78 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team were coached by Joe B. Hall. The team finished the season with a 30–2 record and SEC Championship and won the 1978 NCAA Championship over the Duke Blue Devils, 94–88. Noting the all-or-nothing pressure exhibited on the team by Kentucky fans, Hall remarked before the title game that "This season was without celebration for us."^[2]

Season summary

Those who witnessed it call Jack Givens' 41 point game against Duke in the 1978 NCAA championship game one of the finest performances in the game's history. Givens made 18-of-27 shots in leading Kentucky to its fifth national championship and first in 20 years. This team also had a pair of bruising frontcourt players in Mike Phillips and Rick Robey and a great point guard in Kyle Macy. The Wildcats went on exhibition tour of Japan in June following the season's end.

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
November 26*	No. 2	SMU	W 110–86	1–0	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
December 5*	No. 1	Indiana Indiana–Kentucky rivalry	W 78–64	2–0	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
December 10*	No. 1	at No. 19 Kansas	W 73–66	3–0	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS
December 12*	No. 1	South Carolina	W 84–65	4–0	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
December 16*	No. 1	Portland State UK Invitation Tournament	W 114–88	5–0	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
December 17*	No. 1	St. John's UK Invitation Tournament	W 102–72	6–0	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
December 23*	No. 1	Iona	W 104–65	7–0	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
December 31* NBC	No. 1	No. 4 Notre Dame	W 73–68^[3]	8–0	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
January 2	No. 1	Vanderbilt	W 72–59	9–0 (1–0)	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
January 7	No. 1	at Florida	W 86–67	10–0 (2–0)	O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL
January 9	No. 1	at Auburn	W 101–77	11–0 (3–0)	Beard–Eaves–Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL
January 14	No. 1	LSU	W 96–76	12–0 (4–0)	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
January 16	No. 1	Ole Miss	W 76–56	13–0 (5–0)	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
January 21	No. 1	at Mississippi State	W 75–65	14–0 (6–0)	Humphrey Coliseum Starkville, MS
January 23	No. 1	at Alabama	L 62–78	14–1 (6–1)	Coleman Coliseum Tuscaloosa, AL
January 30	No. 1	Georgia	W 90–73	15–1 (7–1)	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
February 4	No. 1	Florida	W 88–61	16–1 (8–1)	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
February 6	No. 1	Auburn	W 104–81	17–1 (9–1)	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
February 11	No. 1	at LSU	L 94–95 ^OT	17–2 (9–2)	LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, LA
February 13	No. 1	at Ole Miss	W 64–52	18–2 (10–2)	Tad Smith Coliseum Oxford, MS
February 15	No. 3	Tennessee	W 90–77	19–2 (11–2)	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
February 18	No. 3	Mississippi State	W 58–56	20–2 (12–2)	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
February 20	No. 3	Alabama	W 97–84	21–2 (13–2)	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
February 25	No. 2	at Tennessee	W 68–57	22–2 (14–2)	Stokely Athletic Center Knoxville, TN
February 27	No. 2	at Georgia	W 78–67	23–2 (15–2)	Georgia Coliseum Athens, GA
March 4* NBC	No. 1	UNLV	W 92–70	24–2	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
March 6	No. 1	at Vanderbilt	W 78–68	25–2 (16–2)	Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, TN
March 11* NBC	No. 1	vs. No. 13 Florida State NCAA tournament	W 85–76	26–2	Stokely Athletic Center Knoxville, TN
March 16* NCAA Productions	No. 1	vs. No. 19 Miami (OH) NCAA Tournament	W 91–69	27–2	University of Dayton Arena Dayton, OH
March 18* NBC	No. 1	vs. No. 4 Michigan State NCAA Tournament	W 52–49	28–2	University of Dayton Arena Dayton, OH
March 25* NBC	No. 1	vs. No. 5 Arkansas NCAA Tournament	W 64–59	29–2	Checkerdome St. Louis, MO
March 27* NBC	No. 1	vs. No. 7 Duke NCAA Championship	W 94–88	30–2	Checkerdome St. Louis, MO
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.