1998–99 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team

The 1998–99 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented University of Kentucky in the 1998–99 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Tubby Smith^[2] who was in his second year on the sidelines. The Wildcats finished with an overall record of 28–9. (11–5 SEC)^[3]

1998–99 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
SEC tournament champions
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 5
AP	No. 8
Record	28–9 (11–5 SEC)
Head coach	Tubby Smith (2nd season)
Home arena	Rupp Arena
Seasons ← 1997–98 1999–2000 →

1998–99 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
No. 20 Tennessee	12	–	4		.750			21	–	9		.700
No. 8 Kentucky †	11	–	5		.688			28	–	9		.757
No. 23 Florida	10	–	6		.625			22	–	9		.710
Georgia	6	–	10		.375			15	–	15		.500
Vanderbilt	5	–	11		.313			14	–	15		.483
South Carolina	3	–	13		.188			8	–	21		.276
West
No. 4 Auburn	14	–	2		.875			29	–	4		.879
No. 17 Arkansas	9	–	7		.563			23	–	11		.676
Ole Miss	8	–	8		.500			20	–	13		.606
Mississippi State	8	–	8		.500			20	–	13		.606
Alabama	6	–	10		.375			17	–	15		.531
LSU	4	–	12		.250			12	–	15		.444
† 1999 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll[1]

In the 1999 NCAA Tournament Kentucky was invited as a #3 seed. The team advanced all the way to the Elite 8 before losing to Michigan State 73–66.

Roster

1998–99 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 3 J.P. Blevins 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 181 lb (82 kg) Fr Edmonton, Kentucky G 4 Steve Masiello 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr White Plains, New York G 5 Wayne Turner 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Boston, Massachusetts G 11 Saul Smith 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Athens, Georgia G 12 Todd Tackett 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 176 lb (80 kg) Fr Paintsville, Kentucky F 14 Heshimu Evans 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Sr Bronx, New York F 21 Tayshaun Prince 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 260 lb (118 kg) Fr Compton, California G 22 Ryan Hogan 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 193 lb (88 kg) So Deerfield, Illinois F 25 Myron Anthony 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So Neptune Beach, Florida F 32 Desmond Allison 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr Tampa, Florida F/C 33 Michael Bradley 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) So Worcester, Massachusetts F 34 Scott Padgett 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Sr Louisville, Kentucky F 40 Jules Camara 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Dakar, Senegal C 42 Jamaal Magloire 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 260 lb (118 kg) Jr Toronto, Ontario	Head coach Tubby Smith Assistant coach(es) Mike Sutton George Felton Shawn Finney Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Non-conference Regular season
Nov 17, 1998*	No. 4	Eastern Kentucky	W 99–64	1–0	Rupp Arena  Lexington, Kentucky
Nov 19, 1998*	No. 4	Mercer	W 82–51	2–0	Rupp Arena  Lexington, Kentucky
Nov 23, 1998*	No. 4	vs. Wright State	W 97–75	3–0	Riverfront Coliseum  Cincinnati, Ohio
Nov 26, 1998*	No. 4	vs. Colorado	W 64–52	4–0	Eugene Guerra Sports Complex  San Juan, Puerto Rico
Nov 27, 1998*	No. 4	vs. Pittsburgh	L 56–68	4–1	Eugene Guerra Sports Complex  San Juan, Puerto Rico
Nov 28, 1998*	No. 4	vs. No. 10 UCLA	W 66–62	5–1	Eugene Guerra Sports Complex  San Juan, Puerto Rico
Dec 1, 1998*	No. 8	vs. No. 7 Kansas Great Eight	W 63–45	6–1	United Center  Chicago, Illinois
Dec 5, 1998*	No. 8	Miami (FL)	W 74–65	7–1	Rupp Arena  Lexington, Kentucky
Dec 8, 1998*	No. 5	vs. No. 11 Indiana	W 70–61 OT	8–1	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Dec 12, 1998*	No. 5	No. 2 Maryland	W 103–91	9–1	Rupp Arena  Lexington, Kentucky
Dec 19, 1998*	No. 3	vs. Georgia Tech	W 80–39	10–1	Georgia Dome  Atlanta, Georgia
Dec 22, 1998*	No. 3	vs. No. 2 Duke	L 60–71	10–2	Continental Airlines Arena  East Rutherford, New Jersey
Dec 26, 1998*	No. 3	at Louisville	L 74–83	10–3	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Dec 29, 1998*	No. 7	Tennessee State	W 97–47	11–3	Rupp Arena  Lexington, Kentucky
SEC Regular season
Jan 2, 1999	No. 7	Florida	W 93–58	12–3 (1–0)	Rupp Arena  Lexington, Kentucky
Feb 24, 1999*	No. 13	Vanderbilt	W 88–63	22–7 (11–4)	Rupp Arena  Lexington, Kentucky
Feb 28, 1999 CBS	No. 13	at Tennessee	L 61–68	22–8 (11–5)	Thompson-Boling Arena  Knoxville, Tennessee
SEC tournament
Mar 5, 1999* JP Sports	No. 14	vs. Ole Miss Quarterfinals	W 83–73	23–8	Georgia Dome  Atlanta, Georgia
Mar 6, 1999* JP Sports	No. 14	vs. No. 4 Auburn Semifinals	W 69–57	24–8	Georgia Dome  Atlanta, Georgia
Mar 7, 1999* CBS	No. 14	vs. No. 22 Arkansas Championship game	W 76–63	25–8	Georgia Dome  Atlanta, Georgia
NCAA tournament
Mar 12, 1999*	(3 MW) No. 8	vs. (14 MW) New Mexico State First round	W 82–60[4]	26–8	Louisiana Superdome  New Orleans, Louisiana
Mar 14, 1999* CBS	(3 MW) No. 8	vs. (6 MW) No. 22 Kansas Second round	W 92–88 OT	27–8	Louisiana Superdome  New Orleans, Louisiana
Mar 19, 1999* CBS	(3 MW) No. 8	vs. (10 MW) Miami (OH) Regional Semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 58–43[5]	28–8	Edward Jones Dome  St. Louis, Missouri
Mar 21, 1999* CBS	(3 MW) No. 8	vs. (1 MW) No. 2 Michigan State Regional Final – Elite Eight	L 66–73	28–9	Edward Jones Dome (42,519) St. Louis, Missouri
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest.

^[6]

Rankings

Main article: 1998–99 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

^[7]