The Cats complete perfect regular season, first since 1975-76

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Gallery • 2 Photos
A general view of Rupp Arena for the Kentucky Wildcats during the game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Rupp Arena on Saturday, December 13, 2014 in Lexington, Ky. Kentucky defeated North Carolina 84-70. Photo by Michael Reaves

March 8, 2015

 

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UK basketball has completed the first undefeated season by a major-conference team since Indiana in 1976. Indiana went on to win the national championship that year with a perfect record of 32-0, although the Cats will need to get to 40-0 to complete theirs. The season saw ups and downs for UK – a 32-point blowout of Kansas in the third game of the season, a season-ending injury for Alex Poythress, back-to-back overtime games against Ole Miss and Texas A&M, and finally a 67-50 victory against Florida in Rupp Arena.

The newcomers made a name for themselves once again this season. Freshmen Tyler Ulis and Karl-Anthony Towns were mainstays on the stat board. Freshman Devin Booker stayed hot from beyond the arc for most of the season, though he started to fizzle late (he still remained over 40 percent from three on the season). But freshman Trey Lyles was waiting in the wings and supplanted Booker’s output to help the Cats remain flawless on the season.

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