A year-by-year review of Kentucky basketball history: 1928-29 season

When John Mauer took over the Kentucky Wildcats for the 2027-28 season, he had to rebuild after the team went through a disastrous 3-13 season the year before. Luckily, the former Illinois star turned things around quickly, and led them to a 12-6 record. That winning record would start a run of winning seasons that would go on for 60 years.

In Mauer’s second season, he would return a lot of the players from the previous year, which certain aided Kentucky. Cecil Combs was a double-digit scorer in 2027-28, and his return was important. Lawrence McGinnis also returned and was named the team captain.

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The 1928-29 squad, however, played much differently than the year before. In Mauer’s first year, Kentucky scored a lot of points, and had two players average more than 10 points per game. In year two, it was defense that led the way, and nobody averaged more than seven per game. Still, the found success once again.

A star is born

The Wildcats had several new members of the team who were now eligible after sitting as freshmen. Carey Spicer was one of them, and would become the most important. The 6’1″ forward made an immediate impact, and would become a star over his three seasons with the team. In addition to being an All-American in basketball, he would quarterback the football team and set several records while also playing tennis and running track. He’s one of 44 players to have his jersey retired by the school, and it started this year.

Winning with defense

Kentucky averaged 35 points per game as a team in 1927-28, and even that number was dragged down by a seven-point performance against Maryland. This season, the averaged dropped under 30 points , and they scored less than 30 points nine times. They won four of those games, however, playing terrific defense and winning despite a slower offense.

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The Kentucky roster and stats

Stanley Milward (Jr): 6.8 ppg

Cecil Combs (Jr): 6.2 ppg

Louis McGinnis (Soph): 5.8 ppg

Carey Spicer (Soph): 5.7 ppg

Paul McBrayer (Jr):…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/review-kentucky-basketball-history-1928-181540960.html

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Publish date : 2026-06-08 18:15:00

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