Kentucky basketball vs Rick Pitino memorable games versus former coach

LEXINGTON — After Adolph Rupp, Rick Pitino might be the best coach in Kentucky basketball’s rich history.

Or it could be John Calipari.

Pitino’s winning percentage (81.4) is second only to Rupp (82.2). But Calipari, who stayed nearly twice as many seasons (15) as Pitino (eight) at UK, leads his coaching rival in total victories (410 to 219) as well as Final Four appearances (four to three). Pitino and Calipari won one national title with the program.

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Had Pitino not departed Lexington for the NBA in 1997, he undoubtedly would have added to his sterling legacy with the Wildcats. Instead, he returned to the college game in 2001 — at Kentucky’s in-state rival Louisville, no less.

Pitino and the Cardinals clashed with Calipari’s Cats 10 times (UK held an 8-2 edge in those bouts) before the former’s tenure came to an end in 2017. Kentucky has won two-thirds of its games against Pitino (12 of 18) as the opposing coach.

Now, with Pitino guiding St. John’s and preparing to face UK — led by one of the captains of his national-title-winning 1995-96 squad, Mark Pope — on Dec. 20 in this year’s CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta, we look back at the most memorable matchups between the Wildcats and their legendary ex-coach:

Kentucky basketball history vs. Rick Pitino

Memorable games

Dec. 21, 2016: Louisville 73, Kentucky 70

LOUISVILLE, KY – DECEMBER 21: Rick Pitino the head coach of the Louisville Cardinals and John Calipari the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats talk before the game at KFC YUM! Center on December 21, 2016 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Synopsis: No one could have known at the time. But this was to be the last Battle of the Bluegrass with Pitino in charge of Louisville. He was dismissed less than 10 months later amid a recruiting scandal. But what a game this was. Ten ties. Nine lead changes. And an unlikely hero for UofL: Quentin Snider. In his two previous meetings with UK, he didn’t score a point. In this victory, which snapped a…

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Publish date : 2025-12-14 10:07:00

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