The five best wins for each program in the Kentucky vs. North Carolina basketball rivalry

John Clay
·4 min read
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Kentucky plays North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic on Saturday at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. It will be the 43rd meeting between the college basketball blue bloods. Kentucky has won 17 of the previous matchups. North Carolina has won 25.

To mark the occasion, here are the five best victories in the series for each school. Or so it says here.

Kentucky’s five best wins over North Carolina

UK coach John Calipari raises a fist on his way to a radio interview at courtside after Kentucky beat North Carolina to advance to the NCAA Final Four in 2011.
UK coach John Calipari raises a fist on his way to a radio interview at courtside after Kentucky beat North Carolina to advance to the NCAA Final Four in 2011.

Kentucky 76, North Carolina 69 on March 27, 2011: Brandon Knight scored 22 points and No. 4 seed UK held No. 2 seed North Carolina to 3-of-16 shooting from three-point range as the Wildcats prevailed in the East Regional finals of the NCAA Tournament in Newark, New Jersey. The victory gave John Calipari the first of his four Final Four trip as the Kentucky coach.

Kentucky 90, North Carolina 78 on Dec. 9, 1974: Coming off a 98-74 loss at Indiana that featured IU coach Bob Knight’s infamous slap of UK coach Joe B. Hall on the back of the head, the Cats fell behind the Tar Heels early at Freedom Hall in Louisville. Hall benched his starters until they informed the coach they were ready to play. And they did so with a vengeance. The win turned around a season in which the Cats made it all the way to the national title game before losing to UCLA.

Kentucky 73, North Carolina 72 on Dec. 3, 2011: Freshman center Anthony Davis blocked John Henson’s shot in the closing moments to preserve the No. 1-ranked Wildcats’ win over the No. 5 Tar Heels in Rupp Arena. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for a Kentucky team that went on to win the school’s eighth national championship.

Kentucky’s Anthony Davis (23) blocks a last-second shot attempt by North Carolina’s John Henson to preserve a UK victory over the Tar Heels in Rupp Arena in December 2011.
Kentucky’s Anthony Davis (23) blocks a last-second shot attempt by North Carolina’s John Henson to preserve a UK victory over the Tar Heels in Rupp Arena in December 2011.

Kentucky 103, North Carolina 100 on Dec. 17, 2016: Malik Monk poured in 47 points, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 16.7 seconds left, as No. 6 UK won a shootout over No. 7 North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic in Las Vegas.

Kentucky 94, North Carolina 87 on Dec. 8, 1969: Dan Issel scored 41 points and grabbed 15 rebounds while Mike Pratt added 27 points and 10 rebounds as the Wildcats defeated North Carolina in the Charlotte Coliseum. UK would rise to No. 1 in the polls before being upset by Jacksonville in the finals of the NCAA Tournament’s Mideast Region.

North Carolina’s five best wins over Kentucky

A last-second shot by North Carolina’s Luke Maye knocked Kentucky out of the 2017 NCAA Tournament one game short of the Final Four.
A last-second shot by North Carolina’s Luke Maye knocked Kentucky out of the 2017 NCAA Tournament one game short of the Final Four.

North Carolina 75, Kentucky 73 on March 26, 2017: Luke Maye hit the winning jumper with 0.3 seconds left as No. 1 seed North Carolina defeated No. 2 seed Kentucky in a thrilling finals of the South Regional at the FedEx Forum in Memphis. The shot catapulted Roy Williams to his third and final national title as the North Carolina head coach.

North Carolina 74, Kentucky 61 on March 25, 1995: Jerry Stackhouse scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as No. 2 seed North Carolina defeated No. 1 seed Kentucky in the finals of the NCAA Tournament’s Southeast Regional in Birmingham. Rick Pitino’s Wildcats shot just 28 percent from the floor. They were 7-of-36 from three-point range.

North Carolina 79, Kentucky 72 on March 19, 1977: UNC coach Dean Smith utilized the infamous “Four Corners” to help the Tar Heels defeat the Wildcats in the finals of the NCAA Tournament’s East Regional at College Park, Md. The Tar Heels made 33 of 36 free throws, with guard John Kuester going 13-of-14 from the foul line.

North Carolina 68, Kentucky 66 on Dec. 17, 1962: In the first meeting between legendary coaches Dean Smith and Adolph Rupp, the Tar Heels defeated the Wildcats at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington. Larry Brown led the way for North Carolina with 19 points while Billy Cunningham scored 13 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.

North Carolina 82, Kentucky 69 on Dec. 26, 1981: In a battle between the No. 1-ranked Tar Heels and No. 2 Wildcats at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey, James Worthy scored 26 points, Sam Perkins 21 and Michael Jordan 19 for the North Carolina win. The 1981-82 Tar Heels would ultimately earn Dean Smith his first national title.

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