3. Jan. 5, 1980
Tennessee basketball entered this game with the Kentucky Wildcats in Don DeVoe’s second year led by Reggie Johnson. Dale Ellis was coming into his own as a freshman. Just like they would be two years later, the Vols were 8-3 and coming off a road win over the Ole Miss Rebels.
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Kentucky, meanwhile, was 12-1. They lost their opener in overtime to the Duke Blue Devils but since then had beaten the No. 3 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish and top-ranked Indiana Hoosiers. So they looked elite.
The Vols, however, were not phased. In a defensive struggle, they went up 27-21 at halftime. Kentucky fought back in the second half, and in a back and forth game, the two were tied at 47-all with two seconds to go.
Howard Wood, who led the team in scoring on the day with 14 points, got his final bucket by hitting a baseline jumper. He had 8 rebounds too. The Vols then defended one last Kentucky prayer to score the upset. Such a quality win was huge to get this team into the NCAA Tournament with a 17-10 finish, and they even won a game there to finish 18-11.
Kevin Nash helped Wood dominate down low. He scored 12 points, and together the two played great interior defense. That was a big reason they won, making this the prettiest ugly win in the history of the series.