1957–58 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team

The 1957–58 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented University of Kentucky. The head coach was Adolph Rupp. The team was a member of the Southeast Conference and played their home games at Memorial Coliseum. This squad was often nicknamed the "Fiddlin' Five".^[2] The team finished with an overall record of 23–6 (12–2 SEC). Kentucky advanced to the Final Four of the 1958 NCAA Tournament. In the semifinals they beat Temple and won their 4th National Championship with a 84–72 victory over Seattle.

1957–58 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
NCAA tournament National champions SEC regular season champions
National Championship Game, W 82–74 vs. Seattle
Conference	Southeast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 14
AP	No. 9
Record	23–6 (12–2 SEC)
Head coach	Adolph Rupp
Assistant coach	Harry Lancaster
Captain	Ed Beck
Home arena	Memorial Coliseum
Seasons ← 1956–57 1958–59 →

1957–58 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 9 Kentucky	12	–	2		.857			23	–	6		.793
No. 16 Auburn	11	–	3		.786			16	–	6		.727
No. 15 Mississippi State	9	–	5		.643			20	–	5		.800
Alabama	9	–	5		.643			17	–	9		.654
Tennessee	8	–	6		.571			16	–	7		.696
Georgia Tech	8	–	6		.571			15	–	11		.577
Vanderbilt	7	–	7		.500			14	–	11		.560
Ole Miss	6	–	8		.429			12	–	12		.500
Florida	5	–	9		.357			12	–	9		.571
Tulane	3	–	11		.214			8	–	15		.348
LSU	3	–	11		.214			7	–	18		.280
Georgia	3	–	11		.214			7	–	19		.269
Rankings from AP Poll[1]

Roster

1957–58 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 40 Earl Adkins 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr — Ashland, KY C 34 Ed Beck (C) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 188 lb (85 kg) Sr — Fort Valley, GA G/F 12 Billy Ray Cassady 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 191 lb (87 kg) Sr — Inez, KY G 10 Lincoln Collinsworth 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr — Salyersville, KY F 24 Johnny Cox 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Hazard Hazard, KY F 32 John Crigler 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Hebron Hebron, KY G 52 Vernon Hatton 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Lafayette Lexington, KY F/C 20 Dick Howe 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr — Carbondale, IL G 10 Lowell Hughes 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So — Prestonburg, KY F/C 14 Phil Johnson 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr University Lexington, KY C 54 Don Mills 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Berea Berea, KY G/F 33 Harold Ross 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr — Hickman, KY G 50 Adrian Smith 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 178 lb (81 kg) Sr — Farmington, KY F 88 Bill Smith 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr — Walton, KY	Head coach Adolph Rupp Assistant coach(es) Harry Lancaster Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: 2016-Jan-22

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
December 2*		Duke	W 78–74	1–0	Memorial Coliseum  Lexington, KY
December 4*		at Ohio State	W 61–54	2–0	Ohio Expo Center Coliseum  Columbus, OH
December 7*		Temple	W 85–83 3OT	3–0	Memorial Coliseum  Lexington, KY
December 9*		at Maryland	L 62–71	3–1	Cole Field House  College Park, MD
December 14*	No. 3	at No. 9 St. Louis	W 73–60	4–1	Kiel Auditorium  St. Louis, MO
December 16*	No. 3	at SMU	L 64–65	4–2	Moody Coliseum  University Park, TX
December 20*	No. 5	No. 8 West Virginia UK Invitation Tournament	L 70–77	4–3	Memorial Coliseum  Lexington, KY
December 21*	No. 5	No. 10 Minnesota UK Invitation Tournament	W 78–58	5–3	Memorial Coliseum  Lexington, KY
December 23*	No. 5	Utah St	W 92–64	6–3	Memorial Coliseum  Lexington, KY
December 30*	No. 9	Loyola-Chicago	W 75–42	7–3	Memorial Coliseum  Lexington, KY
January 4	No. 10	Georgia Tech	W 76–60	8–3 (1–0)	Memorial Coliseum  Lexington, KY
January 6	No. 10	at Vanderbilt	W 86–81	9–3 (2–0)	Memorial Gymnasium  Nashville, TN
January 11	No. 9	LSU	W 97–52	10–3 (3–0)	Memorial Coliseum  Lexington, KY
January 13	No. 9	Tulane	W 86–50	11–3 (4–0)	Memorial Coliseum  Lexington, KY
January 18	No. 9	No. 13 Tennessee	W 77–68	12–3 (5–0)	Memorial Coliseum  Lexington, KY
January 27	No. 9	at Georgia Tech	L 52–71	12–4 (5–1)	Alexander Memorial Coliseum  Atlanta, GA
January 29	No. 8	at Georgia	W 74–55	13–4 (6–1)	Alexander Memorial Coliseum  Atlanta, GA
January 31	No. 8	at Florida	W 78–56	14–4 (7–1)	Florida Gymnasium (7,000) Gainesville, FL
February 8	No. 12	Ole Miss	W 96–65	15–4 (8–1)	Memorial Coliseum  Lexington, KY
February 10	No. 12	No. 17 Mississippi St	W 72–62	16–4 (9–1)	Memorial Coliseum  Lexington, KY
February 15*	No. 12	at Loyola-Chicago	L 56–57	16–5	Alumni Gym  Chicago, IL
February 17	No. 12	Vanderbilt	W 65–61	17–5 (10–1)	Memorial Coliseum  Lexington, KY
February 22	No. 13	at Alabama	W 45–43 OT	18–5 (11–1)	Garrett Coliseum  Montgomery, AL
February 24	No. 13	at Auburn	L 63–64	18–6 (11–2)	Municipal Auditorium  Birmingham, AL
March 1	No. 12	at Tennessee	W 77–66	19–6 (12–2)	Alumni Memorial Gym  Knoxville, TN
March 14*	No. 9	vs. Miami (OH) NCAA tournament	W 94–70	20–6	Memorial Coliseum  Lexington, KY
March 15*	No. 9	vs. No. 8 Notre Dame NCAA Tournament	W 89–56	21–6	Memorial Coliseum  Lexington, KY
March 21*	No. 9	vs. No. 5 Temple National Semifinal – Final Four	W 61–60	22–6	Freedom Hall  Louisville, KY
March 22*	No. 9	vs. No. 18 Seattle National Championship Game	W 84–72	23–6	Freedom Hall  Louisville, KY
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ME=Mideast.

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NCAA Championship

Main article: 1958 NCAA University Division basketball championship game

The 1958 NCAA Championship game was played in Louisville, Kentucky, before a then NCAA finals record crowd of 18,803, at the newly completed Freedom Hall. Seattle was Kentucky's opponent, led by the great Elgin Baylor. Baylor, a Consensus First Team All-American, was the nation's second-leading scorer (32.5) behind Cincinnati's Oscar Robertson (35.1).

The Chieftains led Kentucky by 11 points in the first half on two occasions. In fact, Seattle was still leading by a score of 60–58 with seven minutes to go in the game. However, led by the sharp shooting of Vernon Hatton and Johnny Cox, Kentucky mounted a strong rally at the end, eventually winning the game by a final score of 84–72. Hatton led Kentucky with 30 points, Cox followed him with 24 points for the Wildcats, while Seattle was led by Baylor, who scored 25 points before fouling out. The victory sealed Kentucky's 4th NCAA Championship.

Statistics

• Vernon Hatton 17.1 ppg
• Johnny Cox 14.9 ppg
• John Crigler 13.6 ppg
• Adrian Smith 12.4 ppg
• Ed Beck 5.6 ppg

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Awards and honors

Johnny Cox

• All-SEC (1st Team – Coaches, 2nd Team – AP)
• All-NCAA Regional Team
• All-NCAA Final Four Team

John Crigler

• All-SEC (3rd Team – AP)

Adrian Smith

• All-American (1st Team – Converse, Helms)
• All-SEC (1st Team – Coaches, 2nd Team – AP)
• All-NCAA Regional Team
• All-NCAA Final Four Team

^[6]

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
2	10	Vernon Hatton	Cincinnati Royals
3	28	Johnny Cox	New York Knicks
15	85	Adrian Smith	Cincinnati Royals

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