This is the 'rubber' match against Kentucky. Reminds me of the '86 run

Just curious bc I was only 6 years old for the 86 season, but what at all is reminiscent of the '86 season?

Its not our record against kent bc as you pointed out we were 1-3 that year, now we 1-1. Is it that we need to beat Kentucky to keep our ncaa tourney hopes alive?

I will tell you about the 1986 season though...

That team was immensely talented. It had John Williams, Derrick Taylor, Don Redden, Ricky Blanton, Bernard Woodside, Anthony Wilson, and Nikita Wilson.

The team started 10-0 then went 2-3 to start conference. After a loss at Florida that put the team at 2-3, all hell broke loose in mid-January. Nikita Wilson was kicked off the team for academic reasons and a number of the players contracted chicken-pox. They had to postpone a game at Auburn, then played Kentucky at home with a very short-handed team on Jan. 29. The Tigers fought hard without John Williams and other stars, but lost to Kentucky by 2 points on a buzzer-beater.

After that game, they would go on a swing that would see them play 4 road games in 5 days. They were scheduled to play at Georgia on a Saturday, at Georgetown on a Sunday, and at Miss. State on Wednesday. The Auburn game that was postponed was re-scheduled for the Monday after the Georgetown game, giving them 4 road games in 5 days.

LSU lost the first game to Georgia by 16, then went up to Georgetown and almost did the unthinkable, but lost 74-72 when Jose Vargas threw up an airball in the lane with a few seconds left (Vargas was caught on TV during the timeout leading up to the play being told to NOT shoot by Dale Brown).

The wounded Tigers then made it to Auburn for game 3 of the road swing and pulled out a 63-61 win, then staggered to Starkville, where they won 68-62. The 2-2 road trip was nothing short of amazing.

The team would then kinda alternate wins and losses until the regular season finale, when Kentucky beat them again, this time at Rupp, by a score of 68-57. LSU would wrap up the regular season at 17-10.

The SEC tournament was at Rupp. LSU beat Florida, but then lost to the host Wildcats in another hard-fought game, 61-58.

LSU snuck into the NCAA's and hosted....they beat Purdue and Memphis at home in the 2 epic games...then beat Georgia Tech in the Omni in Atlanta, setting up meeting number 4 with Kentucky.

I really don't remember much about the Kentucky game...I just knew that they had beaten us 3 times, but all were by close scores. Our team was the healthiest it had been all season and we gave them a hell of a battle. Ricky Blanton was the undersized center that manned the middle. That was a very talented team that had a lot to overcome that season and somehow, Dale Brown kept them together and they made that incredible run.