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
	Seasons ← 1984–85 1986–87 →

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]

1985–86 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 3 Kentucky †	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

Roster

1985–86 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team

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]

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
Seasons ← 1984–85 1986–87 →