Five Things You Need To Know About The Kentucky - Duke Rivalry
Tonight, the University of Kentucky Men's Basketball Team takes the court against the Duke Blue Devils. For many of us, this is a game fueled by intense rivalry, which makes it rather surprising that this will only be the twenty-first time the teams have met over the span of eighty-five years.
As we count down to tip-off, here are a few must-know trivia tidbits to fuel your #BBN obsession. Go Big Blue!
1. The Kentucky-Duke rivalry spreads over eighty-five years. The teams first met in March 1930 in Atlanta, at the semifinals of the Southern Conference Tournament.Duke won that game, 37-32. (Duke went on to lose to Alabama in the finals.)
2. The teams have met twenty times: Kentucky has won 11 of those games, while Duke has won 9.
3. The record for most points scored by a single player in a Duke-Kentucky game is held by UK legend Jack "Goose" Givens in the 1978 National Championship Game. Givens scored 41 points, including 18 fields goal.
4. Kentucky holds 8 National Championship Titles; Duke has 5.
5. The 1992 East Regional Final game is remembered by most Kentucky fans as perhaps the most painful loss to Duke. The 104-103 overtime Blue Devils win included Christian Laettner's memorable technical foul against Aminu Timberlake and that last shot -- you know the one, because the Worldwide Leader shows it a thousand times every spring -- well, you know how it ended.