The Short List Of Kentucky Greats Who Finished The Job Against Duke

Kentucky has only beaten Duke three times in 55 years, so the positive Kentucky-Duke memories are few and far between, certainly in games that ended in a Wildcat victory. Sean Woods’ shot in 1992 is the most famous play in a Kentucky loss against Duke. More recent standouts in defeat are Oscar Tshiebwe, who had 17 points and 20 rebounds in the 2021 Champions Classic loss to Duke and Alex Poythress, who soared up NBA draft boards after scoring 20 points against Duke in the 2012 Champions Classic.

Going even further back, Rashaad Carruth’s 14-point first half was a welcomed surprise in the narrow loss to Duke at the 2001 Jimmy V Classic. Or what about when Fred Cowan’s 26-point game wasn’t enough early in the 1980 season, or when Sam Bowie had 22 and 17 in an overtime loss to Duke the previous November?

Tonight, in November 2024, Kentucky will again need high-level play against Duke from several of Mark Pope’s new Wildcats. If enough Kentucky players rise to the challenge, they may join the short list of Kentucky greats who finished the job against Duke.

The following Wildcats were among the standouts in Kentucky’s three wins in the rivalry since 1970. Hopefully, this list will be longer after Kentucky plays Duke for a fifth time in the Champions Classic. Let’s start with one of the GOATs.

Jack Givens (1978)

The Goose Was Golden in the 1978 NCAA Championship game between Kentucky and Duke. Jack “Goose” Givens hit 18 of 27 shot attempts against the Blue Devils for a game-high 41 points in a Kentucky win in the old St. Louis Checkerdome. He had 26 points at halftime, including 16 consecutive points to end the first half.

In his new book, They Call Me Goose, Givens wrote that Duke’s 2-3 zone left the middle section wide open, so he started taking open 15-footers. UK’s game plan didn’t call for Goose to be so heavily featured, he wrote, but Duke never adjusted, so he kept finding the holes in the zone and taking the open midrange jumpers. “Forget everything else, keep getting Jack the ball,” Joe B. Hall told the other Wildcats, according to Givens.

Givens nearly broke Bill Walton’s all-time record for points (44) in an NCAA championship. He wrote that he was unaware he had 41 points and was only three away from tying history. “The most important thing to us–particularly the seniors–was that we win the game.”

Rick Robey (1978)

Though he did most of the heavy lifting in the scoring column, Jack Givens wasn’t alone in lighting up the Blue Devils in ’78. Kentucky scored 94 points in that championship game, with one other Wildcats joining Givens in double-figure scoring.

Fellow senior All-American Rick Robey recorded a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds against Duke, hitting eight of his 11 shot attempts in the game. Robey had one of the most memorable plays of the game, a statement putback dunk to put Kentucky up by 11 with under eight minutes to go.

Jeff Sheppard (1998)

A team effort pulled Kentucky back from down by 17 points in the second half to beat Duke in the 1998 Elite Eight in St. Petersburg, Florida. Too many Wildcats played a pivotal role in that improbable win to name all of them, but we’ll name several anyway, starting with Jeff Sheppard, whose 18 points and 11 rebounds were both team highs for the Wildcats. Sheppard’s double-double against Duke helped him go on to eventually win the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award in his second NCAA championship season at Kentucky.

Wayne Turner (1998)

Duke’s Steve “Wojo” Wojciechowski won the Defensive Player of the Year award in 1998. The committee did not consider what Wayne Turner did to Wojo in presenting him with that award because Turner, Kentucky’s point guard, cooked Wojo throughout the entire second half of the comeback. Turner scored 16 points on the attack, often getting to the foul line where he hit six of eight tries. There are rumors that Wojo still has recurring Wayne Turner nightmares to this day.

Cameron Mills (1998)

Cameron Mills, a former walk-on, took one shot in the 1998 Elite Eight game against Duke. Today, we call it “The Shot Heard ‘Round The Bluegrass,” and it will forever be one of the biggest shots in the school’s history.

Mills’ first basket of the entire 1998 NCAA Tournament was the 3-pointer to put Kentucky ahead for the first time with two minutes and change to go.

Scott Padgett (1998)

Scott Padgett hit the other 3-pointer that will forever be etched in Kentucky Basketball history. Padgett’s historic 3 against Duke came even later in the game when he broke an 81-81 tie with 39 seconds left. Padgett, a Kentucky native, later said that, while he let out a loud shout on the outside, he yelled “In your face, Christian Laettner!” in his own head after drilling the 3 to put Kentucky ahead for good.

Jamal Murray (2015)

The third team to beat Duke in half a century was John Calipari’s 2015-16 team, the only Calipari-coached team to beat Duke in Kentucky’s four tries at the Champions Classic. That Kentucky team didn’t win a national championship like the other two in this conversation, but they’re in this unique club of taking down the Blue Devils. They had two really fun guards we won’t soon forget that helped do it.

Let’s start with Jamal Murray, whose 16 points against Duke in the 2015 Champions Classic made for Murray’s first big breakout game as a Wildcat. A late addition to UK’s recruiting class, the one-and-done star

Tyler Ulis (2015)

Our final Duke killer doesn’t need any introduction. Tyler Ulis is a UK legend, and the Champions Classic win against Duke is one of many accomplishments on his basketball resume. Against Duke, Ulis had a game-high 18 points, hitting four of six 3-pointers, with six assists, three rebounds, two steals, and no turnovers. He also made all six of his free throws in Kentucky’s double-digit win.

---

Important: Kentucky beat Duke nine times from 1931-1969

In focusing on modern-day college basketball, let’s not ignore the early days of playing Duke. Kentucky actually still holds a 12-11 lead in the all-time series despite losing nine of 11 games. A six-game win streak included the 1969-70 Wildcats beating Duke in the UKIT Championship at Memorial Hall and the 1965-66 Wildcats taking down Duke in the NCAA Final Four. What about the 1931 Southern Conference Tournament in Atlanta? Kentucky won 35-30, sparking a four-game win streak in 1931, 1932, 1953, and 1956.

More heroics in Atlanta tonight? We’ll soon see if anyone in Kentucky Blue answers the call.