"Game of the Week" 1981 LSU vs UK Senior Day

Heading into WILDCATS THUNDER’S second Game of the Week, the Kentucky Wildcats were in the midst of losing six of the previous eight games against its biggest conference rival at the time.

Sound somewhat familiar?

Prior to that Sunday afternoon made-for-TV-match-up on NBC, UK’s recent luck against Dale Brown’s LSU Tigers had not been all that good. LSU came into the game ranked #2 in the AP poll; UK #9. On his way to retiring as the second winningest SEC coach of all-time, Brown’s Tigers were riding a 17 game winning streak in the SEC – and 26 overall. The season for LSU would ultimately be one of their best ever. Its 31 wins are still the standard for LSU basketball. They had already wrapped up the SEC regular season title and were the reigning SEC Tournament champs. It was a perfect setting for only the fourth Sunday afternoon game during my four years at UK – but most importantly – for Senior Day.

Along with Seniors Fred Cowan and Chris Gettlefinger, UK was loaded with six McDonald’s All-Americans -- Chuck Verderber, Sam Bowie, Derrick Hord, Dirk Minniefield, Jim Master and our own Bret Bearup.

Bowie and Minniefield were first and third team performers respectively that season, while LSU’s Durand “Rudy” Macklin (Louisville Shawnee High School) was first team and both Ethan Martin and Howard “Hi-C” Carter second team All-SEC performers. There was no shortage of talent or star-power on the floor that afternoon.

Consequently, my fraternity had a Sunday morning party that continued long into the evening after the game had ended hours earlier. What a day…and night!

Perhaps we will have the opportunity to see another UK-LSU classic this summer. If so, maybe we can delve a bit more into the “character that was -- and still is” Dale Brown. It was Brown who made the LSU-UK rivalry in the 1970s and 1980s what the UK and Florida rivalry has become this century.

One last analogy to the LSU-UK rivalry and the Florida-UK rivalry of today. There are many who say that Rupp Arena was the loudest during the 2003 slaughter versus Florida’s first ever edition of a #1 ranked basketball team. Still, Jodie Meeks was quoted on UKathletics.com as having said “I expected it to be loud, but the ground was shaking” after UK’s loss to Florida this past February. To me, that’s unbelievable! However…

As an undergraduate at UK, I went to almost every home game at Rupp Arena. NEVER, I mean NEVER have I been in a place that was as loud at it was that first day of March, 1981. For nearly three days, my ears were ringing after spending a little more than two hours on my feet and hearing 24,010 of my closest friends yelling their heads off!

See if you can tell just how loud it was as WILDCATS THUNDER presents Senior Day, 1981 for your viewing pleasure. When LSU calls a time out after a mid-court lob pass from Dirk to Sam, perhaps you’ll feel like I did when I thought the rafters were going to fall in..? Listen to Al McGuire scream at the top of his lungs at that play! In the end, watch Big Sam make a G-R-E-A-T game saving play to end the game on the last shot by Hi-C Carter. I still get goose bumps when I see this game.

Have fun and Happy Memorial Day 'Cat fans!

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Credit goes to Bogansback2basil Wildcats Thunder Execute Moderator for the article and Blueworldorder Wildcats Thunder Administrator for the video.