Even though it’s only November and we’re months away from March Madness, NCAA basketball already has a Cinderella story.
Playing on the road at Rupp Arena in Kentucky, 25-point underdog Evansville shocked the top-ranked Wildcats 67-64 and silenced a boisterous crowd of 19,101.
Sam Cunliffe came up huge for the Purple Aces with 17 points, including two free throws with 6.8 seconds that gave unranked Evansville a three-point cushion.
Kentucky had a chance to tie a the buzzer to send the game to overtime, but star freshman Tyrese Maxey’s 3-point shot was an airball.
With the win, the Purple Aces — who are coached by former Celtic Walter McCarty, who won a national title with Kentucky in 1996 — move to 2-0 on the young season.
“To be here is a dream come true,” Evansville sophomore forward DeAndre Williams said. “We took advantage and we made history.”
When ranked No. 1 by the AP, Kentucky had not lost as against an unranked, non-major conference team since 1950 and was as 39-0 at home vs unranked non-conference teams.
Prior to last night, Evansville was 0-33 on the road against AP Top 25 teams.
Understandably, they were happy to break that streak.
Evansville was ready to celebrate after upsetting No. 1 Kentucky 🎉 pic.twitter.com/woB0vjmR4G
— ESPN (@espn) November 13, 2019
Interestingly, the Evansville’s Missouri Valley Conference is 4-3 vs. AP No. 1 teams over the last 20 seasons, the best record by any conference during that span.
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