Cats top NCAA Division I attendance charts

UK+freshman+guard+Archie+Goodwin+drives+to+the+basket+against+LIU+at+Rupp+Arena+on+Friday%2C+Nov.+23%2C+2012.+Photo+by+Scott+Hannigan

UK freshman guard Archie Goodwin drives to the basket against LIU at Rupp Arena on Friday, Nov. 23, 2012. Photo by Scott Hannigan

Staff report | @KyKernelSports

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UK men’s basketball games at Rupp Arena were the most attended of any NCAA Division I basketball games in the 2012-13 season.

The Cats’ 18 home games averaged an attendance of 23,099 — 660 more than second-placed Syracuse and 1,528 more than third-place Louisville.

It is the eight consecutive season that UK games at Rupp Arena were the most attended across the top level of college basketball.

The total attendance of 415,775 across the 18 games meant that UK topped an average of over 23,000 fans per-game for the fourth straight year of the John Calipari era.

Syracuse are the only school to have averaged a higher attendance that UK since Rupp Arena opened for the 1976-77 season, with the Cats not falling out of the top two for attendance during that time.

North Carolina, Indiana, Creighton, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Ohio State and Kansas were the other schools to feature in the top-10 average attendances in Division I for 2012-13.

UK begins its 2013-14 season with an exhibition game against Transylvania at Rupp Arena on Nov. 1.