Two Kentucky Wildcats make ESPN's Top 25 Individual Performances in past 25 years

Kentucky Basketball fans have been treated to a lot of incredible individual performances over the past few decades. Two were so impactful that they made Myron Medcalf’s list of the Top 25 in all of college basketball in the last 25 years over at ESPN. Medcalf singled out Anthony Davis‘ performance in the 2012 national championship game and Jodie Meeks‘ 54-point performance vs. Tennessee in 2009 not just because they were great but because of their significance, the stakes, and the reactions they drew.

Davis’ performance vs. Kansas in the title game came in at No. 10, while Jodie’s “54 and he coulda gone for more” was No. 17.

“If you look at the box score of the national championship game between Kentucky and Kansas in 2012, you’ll see that Davis finished a dismal 1-for-10 and scored just six points overall in the 67-59 win,” Medcalf wrote. “But that only tells part of the story. Davis dominated in other ways: he had 16 rebounds, six blocks, five assists and three steals, and created enough of a defensive gridlock that Kansas made just 33.3% of its shots inside the arc.”

Based on how often John Calipari recites Davis’ stat line from that game, and the fact that it propelled the Cats to their eighth national title, I think it definitely deserves to be in the top ten.

Three years earlier, Jodie Meeks dropped 54 points on Tennessee, a bright spot in an otherwise dismal season under Billy Gillispie (who kept the “Witness” t-shirts Nike sent afterward in a closet).

“Meeks had one of the most explosive seasons in recent history, ending 2008-09 eighth in the nation in scoring (23.7 PPG). In particular, his school-record 54 points (10-for-15 from beyond the arc, a perfect 15-for-15 from the free throw line) in the 90-72 road win stood out. Former Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said his guards ‘couldn’t guard [Meeks]’ following the game.”

Of course, Kentucky has been on the opposite end of some incredible individual performances over the years as well. Medcalf ranked Dwayne Wade‘s triple-double vs. Kentucky in the 2003 Final Four No. 9 on the list, Zion Williamson‘s insane debut vs. the Cats in the 2018 Champions Classic No. 15, and Shabazz Napier‘s performance in the 2014 national title game No. 16. I remember all three of those in painful detail.

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Top Kentucky Basketball Individual Performances since 1998

Let’s take this exercise a little further. Which performances do you think deserve consideration? Some of mine are more memorable than impactful. Medcalf’s selections are obviously included.

• Anthony Davis in the 2012 national championship game
• Jodie Meeks‘ 54 points vs. Tennessee (2009)
• Davis’ double-double vs. UofL in the 2012 Final Four — “This is MY state!”
• Malik Monk‘s 47 points vs. North Carolina (2016) – It was only a non-conference game but still one of the best performances I’ve seen in person.
• De’Aaron Fox‘s 39 points vs. UCLA in the 2017 Sweet 16 – Fox outshined Lonzo Ball with the season on the line
• Nerlens Noel‘s 12 blocks vs. Ole Miss (2013) – A UK single-game record that’s even more impressive when you recall that five of them came after Noel got his fourth foul
• Michael Kidd-Gilchrist vs. Louisville (2011): 24 points, 19 rebounds, 0 turnovers in 39 minutes
• Karl-Anthony Towns vs. Notre Dame in the 2015 Elite Eight – KAT lifted the Cats to the Final Four with a career-high 25 points
• Oscar Tshiebwe‘s 37-point, 24-rebound performance vs. Georgia (2023) – Lots of options with Oscar (the Rupp-Arena record 28 rebounds vs. Western Kentucky in 2022 also comes to mind), but this one was truly dominant.
• Tayshaun Prince‘s 5 threes vs. UNC (2001) – Another regular season game but I’ll never forget being in the stands the day Tayshaun hit five straight threes en route to 31 points vs. the Tar Heels.

There are so many more. Kevin Knox vs. West Virginia, DeMarcus Cousins’ “Call Me” game vs. Mississippi State. Tyler Ulis vs. Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament finals. Let’s keep the list rolling.

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