Kentucky basketball’s home loss to No. 1 Auburn on Saturday afternoon was one of the worst defeats the Wildcats have suffered inside the usually friendly confines of Rupp Arena.
Mark Pope’s 17th-ranked Cats. That 16-point margin of defeat ranks among the heaviest losses that UK has ever taken inside Rupp, which held its first Kentucky men’s basketball game in November 1976.
UK’s 16-point loss to Auburn tied for its sixth-largest margin of defeat inside the venue, which has hosted a total of 763 UK men’s basketball games, according to Big Blue History. Kentucky now owns a 675-88 (88.5% winning percentage) record inside Rupp.
Here’s a look at some of the worst losses that Kentucky has taken inside its iconic home arena, with Saturday’s defeat to the Tigers now added to the list.
Kentucky’s worst loss in Rupp Arena history was a 35-point setback against LSU in 1987, when Eddie Sutton’s Wildcats were held to just 25% shooting from the field (12-for-48).
UK turned the ball over 26 times in this game, as LSU’s Anthony Wilson led the way with 28 points scored.
The only UK player who scored in double figures in this game was James Blackmon (14 points).
This Kentucky team went 18-11 overall, 10-8 in SEC games and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Ohio State.
▪ Indiana 75, Kentucky 52 (Dec. 20, 1988): Two seasons later, Bob Knight’s Hoosiers turned back Sutton’s Wildcats by 23 points in Lexington.
Chris Mills scored 22 points for the Kentucky cause, but no other Wildcat joined him in double digits.
Conversely, the Hoosiers had three players who scored at least 16 points in this contest. Indiana put up 75 points in Rupp despite making only two 3-pointers.
Kentucky finished this season 13-19 overall, 8-10 in SEC games and didn’t qualify for March Madness. This was Sutton’s final season in charge of the Cats.
▪ Alabama 85, Kentucky 65 (Jan. 12, 2021): The worst home defeat of John Calipari’s tenure as the Kentucky coach was a 20-point humbling by Nate Oats and Alabama.
Alabama made 31 shots from the field in this one, including 14 makes from 3-point range. This defeat came in front of a reported crowd of only 3,075 fans at Rupp Arena during the COVID-impacted 2020-21 season.
Of course, this defeat occurred to Calipari’s worst Kentucky squad and one of the worst teams in program history.
UK went 9-16 this season, with an 8-9 mark in conference games.
▪ Pittsburgh 85, Kentucky 67 (Nov. 22, 1991): UK lost by 18 points at home to Pitt as part of the Preseason NIT showcase at Rupp.
Darren Morningstar shot 12-for-16 from the field for the visitors and led the scoring column with 27 points. Future UK assistant coach Orlando Antigua added nine points for the Panthers in the win.
Jamal Mashburn had 26 points for Kentucky, but he didn’t get much scoring help as the Wildcats turned the ball over 20 times. Pittsburgh actually turned the ball over 25 times, yet still won by a substantial margin.
This Kentucky team, which was ranked No. 4 in the preseason AP poll, went 29-7 overall and 12-4 in SEC games under Rick Pitino’s direction.
UK made it all the way to the Elite Eight that season, losing to Duke on Christian Laettner’s buzzer-beating shot in overtime.
▪ Arkansas 105, Kentucky 88 (Jan. 25, 1992): Kentucky took a second heavy home loss on the chin during that 1991-92 season.
This 17-point defeat to the Razorbacks came as six Arkansas players scored at least 10 points in the contest. Deron Feldhaus and John Pelphrey each had 22 points for UK.
Fun fact: Feldhaus’ son is now an emerging high school basketball star in the commonwealth.
▪ Gardner-Webb 84, Kentucky 68 (Nov. 7, 2007): One of the most embarrassing moments of Billy Gillispie’s brief time as the Kentucky basketball coach came in this one, with mid-major Gardner-Webb blowing UK away by 16 points in a game that was part of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic tournament.
Grayson Flittner (22 points) and Thomas Sanders (21 points) did most of the scoring damage for Gardner-Webb, which scored the first 14 points of the game and never trailed.
This Gardner-Webb team included Takayo Siddle, who scored eight points in the game. Siddle is now the head men’s basketball coach at UNC Wilmington. In December 2023, Siddle led UNC Wilmington into Rupp Arena and emerged with an upset win over Calipari’s final UK team.
The 2007-08 Kentucky team went 18-13 overall and 12-4 in SEC games. Billy Gillispie actually earned SEC Coach of the Year honors this season, but Kentucky lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Marquette.
▪ Auburn 94, Kentucky 78 (March 1, 2025): Saturday’s 16-point loss at home to Auburn is now the worst of Pope’s three home defeats as the UK coach.
Auburn led by double digits for the entirety of the second half, and the lead was as large as 22 points at one point. Senior Auburn guard Miles Kelly was the offensive engine for the Tigers, as he poured in 30 points with a career-high nine made 3-pointers.
This was Auburn’s first win at Rupp Arena since January 1988.
Saturday’s game offered precious few positives for UK fans. The second-half broadcast of the game on ABC had technical issues after a generator caught on fire and took the game off the air. After the loss, Pope announced that Kentucky fifth-year guard Jaxson Robinson would be out for the rest of the season with a right wrist injury.
Leave a Reply