On This Day: Hogs beat Kentucky on Super Bowl Sunday
Arkansas defeated Kentucky on Super Bowl Sunday on this day in 1995.
On this day 30 years ago, Arkansas guard Scotty Thurman hit an 18-foot jump shot with 10.6 seconds remaining to knock off then-No. 5 Kentucky, 94-92, on Super Bowl Sunday. It gave the Razorbacks their 16th win on the season en route to another 30-plus win campaign for head coach Nolan Richardson and then-No. 9 Arkansas.
The matchup was just the second time the Kentucky Wildcats ever played in Fayetteville, and according to the University of Arkansas athletics website, the game was of such notoriety that CBS purposefully moved the game to Super Bowl Sunday to ensure a larger audience by making it a lead-in to the Super Bowl.
Halfway through the season, the Razorbacks already had more losses than they did the entire season prior. Of course, the season prior Arkansas won the national championship over Duke thanks, in large part, to a late shot from Thurman. While the Razorbacks returned the core group from that championship-winning team, they struggled a bit early in that 1994-1995 season.
Still, despite some early losses, Arkansas was a talented and feared squad, with the highest of expectations from fans and pundits alike. Billy Packer, an announcer on the call for the Super Bowl Sunday showdown, even hinted during the matchup that Arkansas and Kentucky could be seeing each other in the national title game later that same season.
That comment alone showed the type of matchup the public was about to witness, and it delivered. Packer, who had a tenuous relationship with Richardson at best, caught the ire of the head coach just under a year prior to this matchup.
In a postgame interview after the Razorbacks defeated Arizona in the Final Four, Richardson and Packer went at it. The Arkansas Times reported retroactively that the exchange went something like: "Packer mentioned to Nolan that he thought the turning point of the game was when Corey Beck re-entered the second half after sitting out much of it with foul trouble. Nolan snarled something like, 'Wow. What insight, Billy. I mean, a blind man could have seen that.'"
Packer responded, "I think that’s a slam at me." To which Richardson replied, "I guarantee that it is."
Later, Packer congratulated the head coach for winning the national championship game over Duke, to which Richardson reportedly replied, "It's about time you do."
The Arkansas and Kentucky matchup had every bit of the same feel as a national championship game. Two top-10 teams with two national championship-winning head coaches (Rick Pitino would not win his first national championship until a year later in 1996) and a budding rivalry between two completely different types of programs.
It was a back-and-forth affair, with the Wildcats leading by eight early, 24-16, but Arkansas stormed back only for Kentucky to expand its lead again. Back-to-back threes by Tony Delk gave the Wildcats a 39-31 advantage as he accounted for 17 of Kentucky's points to that point.
The Razorbacks fell behind 42-33 with just under four minutes remaining in the first half, but then came a blitz from the prgoram that coined the term "40 Minutes of Hell." Back-to-back threes by Thurman and Dwight Stewart pulled Arkansas within two, trailing just 44-42. A halfcourt heave as time expired from Reggie Garrett gave the Razorbacks a 49-47 halftime lead, finishing the half on a 16-5 run in under four minutes of play.
The second half was the Thurman and Corliss Williamson show for Arkansas, as the Razorbacks opened the half with a "Big Nasty" and-one and a Thurman three. Williamson forced a steal, which led Packer to proclaim him as having "the best hands in college basketball." He passed the ball up to point guard Corey Beck to advance the ball, who then gave it ball to Williamson at the three-point line, as he drove by his defender and finished at the rim. Bud Walton Arena erupted and forced a Pitino timeout with the Hogs leading 57-53.
Arkansas expanded its lead to six, 66-60, but a pair of Wildcat threes tied the game right back up. The Razorbacks kept attacking the paint in the second half, scoring inside at will behind Williamson, Stewart and Darnell Robinson.
Much of the second half was a back and forth affair with multiple ties and lead changes. The Razorbacks took an 88-84 lead with 3:55 remaining in the game off a Thurman three, but the Wildcats answered with a layup from big man and current Wildcat head coach Mark Pope.
Kentucky took a 92-91 lead off a Walter McCarty offensive rebound and putback with just 23.9 seconds remaining in the game. Beck brought the ball up the floor and initiated the offense. Richardson elected not to use his one remaining timeout. A pass to McDaniel on the wing, then to Thurman curling at the top of the key, two bounces, pull-up jumpshot... it hit the bottom of the net with 10.6 seconds remaining.
Wildcat guard Jeff Sheppard drove right, tried to put up a baseline runner, but was stripped by Clint McDaniel, who was fouled with 0.6 seconds left. McDaniel hit the first free throw, missed the second, and a full-court heave didn't have a chance. The Razorbacks held on and knocked off the Wildcats.
Jim Nantz, who was also on the call, concluded, "We see Scotty Thurman hit another game-winner."
Williamson finished with 28 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three blocks, while Thurman added 22 points, four rebounds and two assists. Beck chipped in eight points, eight assists and six rebounds.
On the other end, Delk finished with 31 points, McCarty had 16, Sheppard scored 14 and Rhodes finished with 11 points. Current Kentucky head coach Mark Pope finished with five points.
The listed attendance for the game was 20,298, according to HogStats.com, which is 1,098 more than the current capacity of 19,200. The victory kicked Arkansas into another gear on the season, as it lost just three more games: on the road at Mississippi State, 83-62, an overtime loss to the same Kentucky team in the SEC Tournament championship, 95-93, and then in the national championship game against UCLA, 89-78.
Packer was correct that this matchup could be a precursor to the national championship that year, but only the Razorbacks made it all the way to the title game. The Wildcats won the title the very next year.
