1985–86 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team

1985–86 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
1985–86 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
SEC regular season champions; SEC tournament champions
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 3
Record	32–4 (17–1 SEC)
Head coach	Eddie Sutton (1st season);
Home arena	Rupp Arena

1985–86 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 3 †	17	–	1	.944	32	–	4	.889
Alabama	13	–	5	.722	24	–	9	.727
Auburn	13	–	5	.722	22	–	11	.667
Florida	10	–	8	.556	19	–	14	.576
LSU	9	–	9	.500	26	–	12	.684
Georgia	9	–	9	.500	17	–	13	.567
Vanderbilt	7	–	11	.389	13	–	15	.464
Tennessee	5	–	13	.278	12	–	16	.429
Ole Miss	4	–	14	.222	12	–	17	.414
Mississippi State	3	–	15	.167	6	–	22	.214

† 1986 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1985–86 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented University of Kentucky in the 1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Eddie Sutton^[1] and the team finished the season with an overall record of 32–4.^[2] After winning the SEC Tournament the Wildcats were invited to the 1985 NCAA Tournament as a #1 seed. Kentucky advanced to the Elite 8 with victories over Davidson, Western Kentucky and Alabama. But their season came to an end after losing to the #11 seed L.S.U. Tigers 59–57.

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	10	James Blackmon	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jr	Marion HS	Marion, IN
G	12	Leroy Byrd	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)	145 lb (66 kg)	Sr		Lexington, Kentucky
G	14	Paul Andrews	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jr		London, Kentucky
G	15	Ed Davender	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	—	So	Boys and Girls HS	Brooklyn, NY
G	23	Roger Harden	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Sr		Valparaiso, Indiana
SF	25	Winston Bennett	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jr	Louisville Male HS	Louisville, KY
PF	30	Irving Thomas	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Fr	Miami Carol City HS	Miami, FL
SF	34	Kenny Walker	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Sr	Crawford County HS	Roberta, GA
PF	44	Rob Lock	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	So	Reedley HS	Reedley, CA

Head coach

Eddie Sutton (Oklahoma State)

Assistant coach(es)

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 22, 1985*	No. 11	Northwestern State	W 77–58	1–0	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Nov 26, 1985	No. 10	at Chaminade	W 89–57	2–0 (1–0)	McCabe Gymnasium Honolulu, Hawaii
Nov 27, 1985*	No. 10	at Hawaii	W 98–65	3–0	Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, Hawaii
Dec 3, 1985*	No. 9	Cincinnati	W 84–54	4–0	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Dec 7, 1985*	No. 9	No. 19 Indiana	W 63–58	5–0	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Dec 14, 1985*	No. 9	at No. 7 Kansas	L 68–83	5–1	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas
Dec 20, 1985*	No. 13	East Carolina	W 86–52	6–1	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Dec 21, 1985*	No. 13	Pepperdine	W 88–56	7–1	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Dec 28, 1985*	No. 13	No. 15 Louisville	W 69–64	8–1	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Dec 30, 1985*	No. 12	vs. VMI	W 93–55	9–1	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
SEC Regular Season
Jan 4, 1986	No. 12	at Vanderbilt	W 80–71	10–1 (1–0)	Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, Tennessee
Jan 6, 1986	No. 11	at Auburn	L 56–60	10–2 (1–1)	Memorial Coliseum Auburn, Alabama
Jan 8, 1986	No. 11	Ole Miss	W 75–58	11–2 (2–1)	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Jan 11, 1986	No. 11	Alabama	W 76–52	12–2 (3–1)	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Jan 15, 1986	No. 11	at Mississippi State	W 64–52	13–2 (4–1)	Humphrey Coliseum Starkville, Mississippi
Jan 18, 1986	No. 11	at Florida	W 72–55	14–2 (5–1)	Stephen C. O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida
Jan 23, 1986	No. 11	Georgia	W 74–69	15–2 (6–1)	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Jan 25, 1986	No. 11	Tennessee	W 74–57	16–2 (7–1)	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Jan 29, 1986	No. 8	at No. 17 LSU	W 54–52	17–2 (8–1)	Maravich Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jan 31, 1986	No. 8	Auburn	W 81–71	18–2 (9–1)	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Feb 2, 1986*	No. 8	at NC State	L 51–54	18–3	Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, North Carolina
Feb 5, 1986	No. 12	Vanderbilt	W 73–65	19–3 (10–1)	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Feb 8, 1986	No. 12	at Ole Miss	W 62–58	20–3 (11–1)	Tad Smith Coliseum Oxford, Mississippi
Feb 13, 1986	No. 11	at No. 18 Alabama	W 73–71	21–3 (12–1)	Coleman Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Feb 15, 1986	No. 11	Mississippi State	W 88–62	22–3 (13–1)	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Feb 19, 1986	No. 8	Florida	W 80–69	23–3 (14–1)	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Feb 22, 1986	No. 8	at Georgia	W 80–75	24–3 (15–1)	Stegeman Coliseum Athens, Georgia
Feb 27, 1986 LSN	No. 5	at Tennessee	W 62–60	25–3 (16–1)	Stokely Athletic Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Mar 1, 1986	No. 5	LSU	W 68–57	26–3 (17–1)	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
SEC Tournament
Mar 6, 1986* LSN	(1) No. 3	(9) Ole Miss SEC Tournament Quarterfinal	W 95–69	27–3	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Mar 7, 1986* LSN	(1) No. 3	(5) LSU SEC Tournament Semifinal	W 61–58	28–3	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Mar 8, 1986* NBC	(1) No. 3	(3) Alabama SEC tournament championship	W 83–72	29–3	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
NCAA Tournament
Mar 14, 1986*	(1 SE) No. 3	vs. (16 SE) Davidson First round	W 75–55	30–3	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Mar 16, 1986*	(1 SE) No. 3	vs. (8 SE) Western Kentucky Second Round	W 71–64	31–3	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Mar 20, 1986* CBS	(1 SE) No. 3	vs. (5 SE) Alabama Southeast Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 68–63	32–3	The Omni Atlanta, Georgia
Mar 22, 1986* CBS	(1 SE) No. 3	vs. (11 SE) LSU Southeast Regional Final – Elite Eight	L 57–59	32–4	The Omni Atlanta, Georgia
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast.

^[3]

References

^ "1985-1986 Kentucky Wildcats Roster and Stats". Retrieved November 6, 2013.
^ "1985-1986 Kentucky Wildcats Schedule and Results". Retrieved November 6, 2013.
^ "2019-20 Kentucky Men's Basketball Record Book" (pdf). University of Kentucky Athletics. p. 200. Retrieved October 18, 2020.

[1] "1985-1986 Kentucky Wildcats Roster and Stats". Retrieved November 6, 2013.

[2] "1985-1986 Kentucky Wildcats Schedule and Results". Retrieved November 6, 2013.

[3] "2019-20 Kentucky Men's Basketball Record Book" (pdf). University of Kentucky Athletics. p. 200. Retrieved October 18, 2020.

[1]

[2]

[3]

Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
Venues	State College Gymnasium (1903–1914) Buell Armory Gymnasium (1910–1924) Alumni Gymnasium (1924–1950) Memorial Coliseum (1950–1976) Rupp Arena (1976–present) Joe Craft Center (practice)
Rivalries	Arkansas Centre (historical) Florida Indiana Louisville North Carolina Tennessee Transylvania (historical)
Culture & lore	History under Adolph Rupp Fabulous Five Point-shaving scandal Fiddlin' Five Rupp's Runts The Season Without Celebration "The Shot" Unforgettables Untouchables Comeback Cats John Wall Dance Tweakables Pursuit of Perfection 2011 Indiana game Basketbowl Champions Classic CBS Sports Classic The Rivalry: Red v. Blue The Wildcat Scratch Blue "On, On, U of K" "Kentucky Fight" Big Blue Nation Blue blood status
People	Head coaches Honorees NBA draftees Players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics; NCAA championships in bolded italics