Rupp Arena - Milestones

Milestones

  • The ceremonial first basket in the new facility was sunk by Adolph's young grandson Chip (Adolph III), who went on to play college basketball at Southeastern Conference (SEC) rival Vanderbilt.
  • Rupp staged three Southeastern Conference men's basketball tournaments between 1982 and 1993; it was also the host of the Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament in 1992 and 1993.
  • It hosted WWE Backlash in 2006.
  • The Rupp Arena attendance record was set on January 2, 2010, when 24,479 people watched #3 Kentucky play rival Louisville. The final score was a 71-62 victory by the Kentucky Wildcats.
  • The UK men are the only basketball program in the SEC that plays home games in an off-campus facility. All of the other programs play on-campus, including the UK women, who play in the men's former home of Memorial Coliseum. However, when the women's program expects an unusually large crowd, it will shift an occasional game to Rupp; they notably upset then top-ranked Tennessee there on January 26, 2006.
  • Rupp is also home to the annual KHSAA State Basketball Championship, with teams from throughout the commonwealth appearing for a shot at the state title.
  • Rupp Arena is the home court of the Kentucky Wildcats Man's Basketball Team, and Kentucky Men's Basketball now boasts an overall Rupp Arena record of 481-60 (.889) since beginning play there in November of 1976. (UK's first win in Rupp Arena was on November 27, 1976, vs. Wisconsin, and their most recent win was on March 1st, 2012 vs. Georgia.)
  • The University of Kentucky has led the nation 24 times (which is a NCAA record) in NCAA Men's Basketball home attendance since the 1976-77 season (the 35 seasons at Rupp Arena), including 16 out of the last 17 seasons, and the last 7 seasons in a row.
  • On December 21, 2009, in Rupp Arena, the Kentucky Men's basketball team became the first college basketball program to win 2000 games, in an 88-44 win against the Drexel University Dragons.
  • Currently, Kentucky is on a Rupp Arena record 54-game (and an overall 56-game) home winning streak. This streak for consecutive home wins also currently leads all NCAA Division I member basketball schools.
  • It hosted the August 2, 2011 tapings of SmackDown and WWE Superstars, with the former set to air on August 5, 2011, and the latter having aired on August 4, 2011.

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