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Unbreakable Kentucky basketball records? These marks will be hard to top

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Unbreakable Kentucky basketball records? These marks will be hard to top

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LEXINGTON — A program as successful as Kentucky — more wins than any team in college basketball history, eight national championships, 17 Final Fours and 61 NCAA Tournament appearances — is bound to have its share of awe-inspiring records.

But which ones are most likely to stand the test of time?

Below, we offer a handful of marks — from program records, coaching superlatives and individual excellence — that are unlikely to be broken.

Longest home-court winning streak: 129 games

From 1943 to 1955, Kentucky played 129 home games. It hosted foes at Alumni Gymnasium. It moved to Memorial Coliseum. The constant: UK won. And won. And won. Its 129-game win streak at home, which ended against Georgia Tech, remains the longest in NCAA history. At any level (Divisions I, II and III). Men or women.

The closest any program has come to matching UK is the Amherst women. The Division III program ripped off 121 straight home victories from 2009 to 2016.

Recently, the closest a Division I men’s program has gotten to Kentucky’s unparalleled run is Gonzaga, which had a 76-game home streak snapped last year.

Of UK’s many, many records, this one might be the safest.

Adolph Rupp’s 876 overall victories

Adolph Rupp, the legendary “Baron of the Bluegrass,” won 876 games over 41 seasons. John Calipari, the second-winningest coach in program history, didn’t even reach half that, ending his time at UK with 410 victories.

To put Rupp’s win total into perspective, new coach Mark Pope could post 20 consecutive 40-0 seasons … and he’d still need nearly two more 40-0 campaigns to surpass Rupp.

Adolph Rupp’s SEC titles tally: 40

Rupp captured 27 regular-season SEC championships, winning 23 outright and sharing four. He also led the Wildcats to 13 conference tournament crowns before the event was ended after the 1952 edition; it did not return until 1979. Rupp undoubtedly would have added many more league tournament championships if the event had been contested.

Even without it, however, he holds a commanding lead in terms of all-time SEC titles (combining regular-season championships and league tournament triumphs). Calipari is next in line. With 12 (six regular season and tournament championships apiece).

To take down Rupp, an SEC coach needs to start young and never slow down. And even that might not be enough.

Fewest points allowed: 6

Kentucky permitted just six points to Arkansas State in a 75-6 stomping in 1945. The six points are an NCAA record (dating back to the 1938-39 season, the first year the organization crowned a national champion) that has been matched just once: Tennessee beat Temple, 11-6, in 1973.

Given how much basketball has changed in the past half-century — from the introduction of the shot clock to the increased reliance on 3-pointers — it’s a near guarantee no Division I team will give up fewer than Rupp’s group did nearly 80 years ago.

Fewest field goals allowed: 2

Not surprisingly, this mark is from the same UK destruction of Arkansas State. The Wildcats gave up just two field-goal makes that day. N.C. State matched that 23 years later, allowing Duke to make just two shots in an ACC Tournament semifinal tilt in 1968. The Wolfpack upset the heavily favored Blue Devils by two points, 12-10.

Yet again, with the shot clock and improved shooters in the modern game, this appears to be another NCAA record Kentucky should feel confident it will keep until the end of time.

Most rebounds: 108

UK grabbed 108 rebounds in a 102-59 victory over Ole Miss on Feb. 8, 1964. It’s yet another NCAA mark held by the Wildcats. In that 43-point win, Kentucky had five players pull down 11 or more boards, led by Cotton Nash‘s 30.

Mark this down as another record UK should hold onto: The last time any Division I team even notched a triple-digit rebounding tally was 1966, when Weber State had 101 against Idaho State.

Most rebounds: 2,109

The 1950-51 Wildcats dominated the glass, setting a single-season NCAA mark for rebounds (2,109). Only three other Division I clubs have even surpassed the 2,000 mark, with the most recent being Houston in 1967-68.

Chalk up this figure as another UK record that likely won’t be rewritten any time soon. If ever.

Scoring margin: 27.2 points per game

Kentucky’s 1995-96 team, which won the national title, is considered one of the greatest in the history of the sport. (That group of Wildcats is known as “The Untouchables,” after all.) UK’s average margin of victory was 22.1 points per game that season. But even as great as that group was, it’s not even No. 1 in that category in program history. In fact, five of Rupp’s clubs are ahead of the 1995-96 team.

The best: Kentucky demolished opponents by 27.2 points per game in 1953-54. UK went 25-0 that season. It’s the best scoring margin posted by an SEC squad. And it’s the third-best mark in the Division I record book, trailing UCLA (scoring margin of 30.3 in 1971-72) and N.C. State (28.1 in 1947-48).

Scoring average: Dan Issel, 25.8 points per game

Just call this “The Dan Issel Section” because the all-time great holds both these scoring marks.

First up: Issel averaged nearly 26 points per game during his three-year career. The next-closest player to him is Nash at 22.7. No Wildcat has averaged more than 20 points per game for a career since Kevin Grevey (21.4 ppg) moved on after the 1974-75 season.

Scoring average: Dan Issel, 33.9 points per game (1969-70)

Since Issel’s record-setting scoring season, the nearest any Kentucky player has drawn to his figure is Jodie Meeks. And even as scintillating as Meeks was in 2008-09, his average (23.7) was more than 10 points behind Issel’s mark. (For good measure, Issel also holds the second-best scoring average by a Wildcat, pouring in 26.6 points per outing in 1968-69.)

Issel will hold this record until the world ends.

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.

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