1979–80 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team

1979–80 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
1979–80 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
SEC regular season champions
NCAA tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 4
Record	29–6 (15–3 SEC)
Head coach	Joe B. Hall (8th season);
Captain	Kyle Macy
Home arena	Rupp Arena
	Seasons ← 1978–79 1980–81 ⊟

1979–80 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 4 Kentucky	15	–	3	.833	29	–	6	.829
No. 3 LSU †	14	–	4	.778	26	–	6	.813
Alabama	12	–	6	.667	18	–	12	.600
Tennessee	12	–	6	.667	18	–	11	.621
Ole Miss	9	–	9	.500	17	–	13	.567
Mississippi State	7	–	11	.389	13	–	14	.481
Vanderbilt	7	–	11	.389	13	–	13	.500
Georgia	7	–	11	.389	14	–	13	.519
Auburn	5	–	13	.278	10	–	18	.357
Florida	2	–	16	.111	7	–	21	.250

† 1980 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The 1979–80 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Kentucky during the 1979–80 college basketball season.

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
November 17* 1:00, TVS	No. 2	vs. No. 3 Duke	L 76–82 ^OT	0–1	Springfield Civic Center Springfield, MA
November 30* no, no	No. 2	vs. Bradley Great Alaska Shootout	W 79–58	1–1	Buckner Fieldhouse Anchorage, AK
December 1* no, no	No. 2	vs. Alaska Great Alaska Shootout	W 97–68	2–1	Buckner Fieldhouse Anchorage, AK
December 2* no, no	No. 2	vs. Iona Great Alaska Shootout	W 57–50	3–1	Buckner Fieldhouse Anchorage, AK
December 8* no, no	No. 5	Baylor	W 80–46	4–1	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
December 10* no, no	No. 5	South Carolina	W 126–81	5–1	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
December 12* no, no	No. 5	at Kansas	W 57–56	6–1	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS
December 15* no, no	No. 5	No. 1 Indiana Indiana–Kentucky basketball rivalry	W 69–58	7–1	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
December 17 no, no	No. 5	at Georgia	W 95–69	8–1 (1–0)	Omni Coliseum Atlanta, GA
December 21* no, no	No. 3	California UK Invitation Tournament	W 78–52	9–1	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
December 22* no, no	No. 3	No. 9 Purdue UK Invitation Tournament • Final	W 61–60	10–1	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
December 29* no, no	No. 2	vs. No. 3 Notre Dame	W 86–80	11–1	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
January 2 9:00 p.m., Chesley-TPC^[2]	No. 2	Auburn	W 67–65	12–1 (2–0)	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
January 5 no, NBC/TVS^[3]	No. 2	at Tennessee	L 47–49	12–2 (2–1)	Stokely Athletic Center Knoxville, TN
January 9 no, no	No. 4	at Ole Miss	W 79–73	13–2 (3–1)	Tad Smith Coliseum Oxford, MS
January 12 no, no	No. 4	Alabama	L 64–78	13–3 (3–2)	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
January 17 9:00 p.m., Chesley-TPC^[2]	No. 6	at Florida	W 76–63	14–3 (4–2)	Florida Gymnasium Gainesville, FL
January 19 no, no	No. 6	Vanderbilt	W 106–90	15–3 (5–2)	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
January 23 no, no	No. 5	at Mississippi State	W 89–67	16–3 (6–2)	Humphrey Coliseum Starkville, MS
January 26 no, no	No. 5	Georgia	W 56–49	17–3 (7–2)	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
January 28 9:00 p.m., Chesley-TPC^[2]	No. 5	No. 11 LSU	L 60–65	17–4 (7–3)	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
January 30 no, no	No. 3	at Auburn	W 64–62	18–4 (8–3)	Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL
February 2 no, no	No. 3	Tennessee	W 83–75	19–4 (9–3)	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
February 6 no, no	No. 5	Ole Miss	W 86–72	20–4 (10–3)	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
February 9 no, no	No. 5	at Alabama	W 72–63	21–4 (11–3)	Coleman Coliseum Tuscaloosa, AL
February 13 no, no	No. 5	Florida	W 95–70	22–4 (12–3)	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
February 15 no, no	No. 5	Vanderbilt	W 91–73	23–4 (13–3)	Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, TN
February 17* no, no	No. 5	at UNLV	W 74–69	24–4	Las Vegas Convention Center Las Vegas, NV
February 20 no, no	No. 3	Mississippi State	W 71–65	25–4 (14–3)	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
February 24 2:30, NBC	No. 3	at No. 5 LSU	W 76–74	26–4 (15–3)	Pete Maravich Assembly Center Baton Rouge, LA
SEC Tournament
February 28 9:00, Chesley-TPC^[2]	(1) No. 2	vs. (9) Auburn Quarterfinals	W 69–61	27–4	Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex (13,429) Birmingham, AL
February 29 9:00, Chesley-TPC^[2]	(1) No. 2	vs. (5) Ole Miss Semifinals	W 70–67	28–4	Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex (13,482) Birmingham, AL
March 1* 8:30, Chesley-TPC^[2]	(1) No. 2	vs. (2) No. 5 LSU Championship	L 78–80	28–5	Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex (8,400) Birmingham, AL
NCAA Tournament
March 9* 3:00 PM, NBC	(1 ME) No. 4	vs. (8) Florida State Second round	W 97–78	29–5	E.A. Diddle Arena (12,100) Bowling Green, KY
March 13* 9:37 PM, NBC	(1 ME) No. 4	vs. (4 ME) No. 14 Duke Sweet Sixteen	L 54–55	29–6	Rupp Arena (23,380) Lexington, KY
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Standard Time.

^[4]

References

^ sports-reference.com 1979-80 Southeastern Conference Season Summary
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Television slate set". Kentucky New Era. Associated Press. July 17, 1979. p. 14. Retrieved September 25, 2023 – via Google Books.
^ "NBC Plays 80 Games For Regional, National TV". Kentucky New Era. November 27, 1979. p. 31. Retrieved September 27, 2023 – via Google Books.
^ "All-Time Results". Archived from the original on May 23, 2013. Retrieved December 26, 2012.

[1] sports-reference.com 1979-80 Southeastern Conference Season Summary

[kne07171979-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Television slate set". Kentucky New Era. Associated Press. July 17, 1979. p. 14. Retrieved September 25, 2023 – via Google Books.

[kne11271979-3] "NBC Plays 80 Games For Regional, National TV". Kentucky New Era. November 27, 1979. p. 31. Retrieved September 27, 2023 – via Google Books.

[4] "All-Time Results". Archived from the original on May 23, 2013. Retrieved December 26, 2012.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
Venues	State College Gymnasium (1903–1914) Buell Armory Gymnasium (1910–1924) Alumni Gymnasium (1924–1950) Memorial Coliseum (1950–1976) Rupp Arena (1976–present) Joe Craft Center (practice)
Rivalries	Centre (historical) Florida Indiana Louisville North Carolina Tennessee Transylvania (historical)
Culture & lore	History under Adolph Rupp Fabulous Five Point-shaving scandal Fiddlin' Five Rupp's Runts The Season Without Celebration "The Shot" Unforgettables Untouchables Comeback Cats John Wall Dance Tweakables Pursuit of Perfection 2011 Indiana game Basketbowl Champions Classic CBS Sports Classic The Rivalry: Red v. Blue The Wildcat Scratch Blue "On, On, U of K" "Kentucky Fight" Big Blue Nation Blue blood status
People	Head coaches Honorees NBA draftees Players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics; NCAA championships in bolded italics