2014–15 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team
2014–15 season of University of Kentucky men's basketball team / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2014–15 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Kentucky in the 2014–15 college basketball season. The team played its home games in Lexington, Kentucky, United States for the 39th consecutive season at Rupp Arena, with a capacity of 23,500. The team was led by sixth-year head coach John Calipari. The team was a National semifinalist in the NCAA tournament, competed in the school's 17th Final Four. It was Calipari's fourth Final Four appearance at Kentucky. The team finished the regular season with a perfect 31–0 record, the best start in school history. For six years, they had been the last unbeaten team to enter the NCAA tournament until Gonzaga in 2021.[1] Their 38 wins is tied with the 2012 Kentucky team for the most in men's Division I history.[2] Their 38–1 record (.974 winning percentage) is the best by a team that did not finish undefeated.
2014–15 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball | |
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SEC tournament champions SEC regular season champions | |
NCAA tournament, Final Four | |
Conference | Southeastern Conference |
Ranking | |
Coaches | No. 3 |
AP | No. 1 |
Record | 38–1 (18–0 SEC) |
Head coach |
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Assistant coaches |
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Home arena | Rupp Arena |
Seasons |
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 1 Kentucky † | 18 | – | 0 | 1.000 | 38 | – | 1 | .974 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 21 Arkansas | 13 | – | 5 | .722 | 27 | – | 9 | .750 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
LSU | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 22 | – | 11 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Georgia | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 21 | – | 12 | .636 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Texas A&M | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 21 | – | 12 | .636 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ole Miss | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 21 | – | 13 | .618 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Vanderbilt | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 21 | – | 14 | .600 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alabama | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 19 | – | 15 | .559 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Florida | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 16 | – | 17 | .485 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tennessee | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 16 | – | 16 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
South Carolina | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 17 | – | 16 | .515 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mississippi State | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 13 | – | 19 | .406 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Auburn | 4 | – | 14 | .222 | 15 | – | 20 | .429 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Missouri | 3 | – | 15 | .167 | 9 | – | 23 | .281 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
† 2015 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll |
After finishing as the National Runner-up in the 2014 NCAA tournament, the expectations for this team were high. The team, however, would be without some of its top players from the 2013–14 team including starting power forward Julius Randle[3][4] and starting small forward James Young,[5][6] who were first-round draft choices in the 2014 NBA draft. Returning were starting point guard Andrew Harrison,[7] starting shooting guard Aaron Harrison,[7] and starting center Dakari Johnson.[8] Former McDonald's All-Americans Marcus Lee[9] and Alex Poythress[10] also returned to school. Willie Cauley-Stein opted to return to school after his leg injury in the 2014 NCAA tournament.[11] John Calipari once again produced another top recruiting class that was highlighted by Karl-Anthony Towns.
The Wildcats were led by 2015 Consensus All-Americans Cauley-Stein and Towns.