On Saturday, Kentucky will play its 21st game at Madison Square Garden, or rather, the current version of the famous venue. The program has a long and storied history in the Garden dating back almost eight decades. Adolph Rupp led the Cats to their first national title in the old Madison Square Garden in 1948. Almost 30 years later in the new building, Joe B. Hall’s Wildcats won the 1976 NIT, beating UNC-Charlotte 71-67. Rick Pitino’s squads returned to the Garden for the ECAC Holiday Festival in 1992 and 1995.
Tubby Smith took the Cats to New York for the Preseason NIT in 1999 and the Coaches vs. Cancer IKON Classic in 2000. John Calipari’s teams went 5-3 in Madison Square Garden over 15 seasons, bringing the program’s record in the building to 14-6. Unfortunately, the last two Kentucky games there have been losses, to Duke in the 2021 Champions Classic and UCLA in the 2022 CBS Sports Classic.
Mark Pope has long talked about his love for Madison Square Garden. He played there as a Wildcat and a professional, including his time as a New York Knick. While we wait to see how his first Kentucky team will fare vs. Ohio State under the bright lights, let’s look back at some past individual performances in the building. After all, the Garden has a way of inspiring greatness.
March 21, 1976: Reggie Warford vs. UNC-Charlotte (NIT Championship)
14 points (7-10 FG), 3 assists, 1 rebound
Reggie Warford was the only senior on the 1975-76 team, and he made sure they had a title to their name, even if it was just the NIT. After scoring just three points in the first three games of the NIT, Warford put up 14 in the championship game vs. UNC-Charlotte, most while Kentucky was in foul trouble. Warford, a native of Drakesboro, Ky. and the first Black basketball player to graduate from UK, gave his hometown a shoutout afterward.
“It’s my win,” Warford said, via the New York Times, “And no one can take this one away. I’m the only one leaving from this team. It’s all over for me. It’s back to Drakesboro and the dirt courts when I can do all the shooting I want and there are no 13,000 people watching when you miss.”
December 30, 1992: Rodrick Rhodes vs. St. John’s
23 points (7-13 FG), 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 1 assist
Kentucky played in the ECAC Holiday Festival in 1992 and 1995. Rodrick Rhodes won MVP of the 1995 event after scoring a game-high 23 points in an 86-77 win over St. John’s. It was a big homecoming for Rhodes, a Jersey City, NJ native who was the No. 2 ranked player in the 1992 class.
December 27 & 29, 1995: Antoine Walker and Tony Delk vs. Rider, Tony Delk vs. Iona
Walker vs. Rider: 27 points (10-21 FG), 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block
Delk vs. Rider: 24 points (10-16 FG, 3-5 3PT FG), 4 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 assist, 1 block
Delk vs. Iona: 29 points (9-12 FG, 6-7 3PT FG), 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
In 1995, Rick Pitino took the Cats back to the Big Apple for the ECAC Holiday Festival. Antoine Walker and Tony Delk teamed up to take down Rider in the first round 90-65. Walker and Delk scored a combined 51 points, with Walker totally overpowering the outmatched Rider inside en route to a game-high 27 points and 8 rebounds.
Delk stole the show in the second round vs. Iona, hitting six threes to push the No. 2 Cats to the 106-79 rout. He finished with 29 points in just 22 minutes (foul trouble) and was named tournament MVP. Kentucky only led by three, 44-41, at half but scored 62 points on 62.5% shooting in the second half.
If you’re curious, Mark Pope totaled 11 points and 10 rebounds in the two games on 5-9 shooting.
November 24, 1999: Tayshaun Prince vs. Maryland
21 points (7-18 FG), 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block
Kentucky returned to Madison Square Garden in 1999 for the Preseason NIT. The No. 11 Cats led No. 22 Maryland by 13 at half but the Terrapins stormed back to tie the game at 52 with 6:30 to go. Kentucky escaped with a 61-58 win thanks in part to Prince, who had a team-high 21 points and 9 rebounds. The Cats advanced to the PReseason NIT Championship, where they lost to No. 8 Arizona.
Kentucky actually played Maryland less than a month later in College Park and lost 72-66.
Dec. 9, 2009: John Wall vs. UConn (SEC/Big East Invitational)
25 points (10-16 FG), 7 turnovers, 6 assists, 2 steals, 1 rebound
John Wall had already played eight games for Kentucky but asserted himself as a superstar at the Garden. Wall scored 25 points, including 12 of Kentucky’s final 15, in the Cats’ thrilling 64-61 win over UConn. Wall took over the game in the second half, outshining Huskies star Kemba Walker.
“He’s phenomenal, one of the best players out there,” Patrick Patterson said at the time. “If we need a crunch-time basket we give it to John and we know we are going to have the advantage. Pretty much when we need baskets we know who to get the ball to.”
“We rode John Wall at the end of the game,” Calipari said.
I was in the building that night and it’s still one of my favorite Kentucky Basketball memories. Wall was simply unstoppable. What a way to start the Calipari era.
Nov. 15, 2011: Anthony Davis vs. Kansas (Champions Classic)
14 points (6-8 FG), 7 blocks, 6 rebounds, 2 steals
Two years later, John Calipari brought the Cats back to Madison Square Garden for the first-ever Champions Classic. Anthony Davis was not Kentucky’s leading scorer in this game, trailing Doron Lamb (17) and Terrence Jones (15) with 14 points, but did block seven shots, a Kentucky Basketball record in the Garden. The Cats got the 75-65 win, a preview of what was to come in the National Championship game in April.
Nov. 15, 2016: Malik Monk vs. Michigan State (Champions Classic)
23 points (8-17 FG, 7-11 3PT), 6 rebounds, 1 assist
In the third game of the 2016-17 season, Malik Monk went off, hitting seven threes to push No. 2 Kentucky past No. 13 Michigan State 69-48. Monk was the only Kentucky player to hit a three all night and nobody on Michigan State’s squad made more than one. All three of Kentucky’s phenomenal freshmen — Monk, De’Aaron Fox, and Bam Adebayo — shined at different times that year, but Monk’s performance at MSG was pretty special. Little did we know he’d top it a month later in Las Vegas.
Nov. 5, 2019: Tyrese Maxey vs. Michigan State (Champions Classic)
26 points (7-12 FT, 3-7 3PT, 9-10 FT), 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
In his first game as a Wildcat, Tyrese Maxey saved the day. On the day after his 19th birthday, the freshman hit a clutch three from deep with 59 seconds left to extend Kentucky’s lead to 65-60. The shot was so impressive that John Wall, watching from the sidelines, leaped to his feet in celebration. The Cats went on to win 69-62.
“It was an amazing birthday celebration,” Maxey said. “I’m very happy, happy for me and my guys. It was a lot of fun out there.”
“He put on a show,” Tom Izzo said of Maxey. “He’s got great intangibles. He’s happy-go-lucky but plays hard.”
Honorable Mention: Keldon Johnson’s three to force overtime vs. Seton Hall
Kentucky lost to Seton Hall in the Garden in 2018, but Keldon Johnson‘s three to force overtime is so ridiculous it deserves mention.
December 21, 2024: ?
Will a Wildcat join this list tomorrow? I can’t wait to find out.
