Flashback Friday: Samaki Walker destroys Kentucky

Quick Hitters

-The day was January 1, 1995 and 5^th ranked Kentucky came into Freedom Hall.

-Jim Nantz and Billy Packer were on the call for CBS.

-Starters for Louisville: DeJuan Wheat, Tick Rogers, Eric Johnson, Jason Osborne, and Samaki Walker.

-Samaki had the first four points for Louisville and set the tone early with his defense and energy.

-We also saw the first triple-double in Louisville basketball history when freshman Samaki Walker finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 blocks. Not bad.

-DeJuan Wheat was incredible against the press this game. He was patient and always hit the open man to get the ball up the floor. Some guys panicked and rushed, Wheat definitely did not.

-Wheat finished with 23 points, four rebounds, and five assists. Still one of the prettiest jumpers ever.

-Also in double-figures with Wheat and Walker were Jason Osborne (12) and Tick Rogers (11).

-Tony Delk led the Cats with 23 points. Jeff Sheppard added 19 and Walter McCarty had 17.

-At the half, Louisville was up 40-36. They clearly looked more aggressive and were crashing the boards hard in this game.

-This was only BJ Flynn’s third game as a member of the team. He transferred in from Duquense and was a walk-on before earning scholarship for his junior and senior seasons.

-UK’s biggest lead was 54-49, but jumpers by Jason Osborne and Alvin Sims cut that to 54-53 and sparked a 16-4 run for the Cards.

-Something I found pretty funny while watching this was with about 20 seconds left, Louisville held a four point lead, but by the looks of the fans and the players, you would have thought we were up 20. Everyone was going crazy and the players were jumping up and down and looked thrilled. I don’t think you would see that today. Up four with 20 seconds against the number five team in the country? Anything can happen. It was just funny to see.

-I was at this game as an eight-year old and could always remember the date and the score. Without watching it again, I just always remembered it as the game that Samaki had a lot of blocks. I guess that was an accurate summary of how the game went, but I am glad that I do have those memories from such a young age. There was nothing like Freedom Hall, and this will always be one of my favorite games I ever went to.

-Sorry to cut this short, I just want to make sure it gets sent over and posted in time. As always, thank you for checking this out and hopefully the film review (or highlight review) brings back some good memories.

Go Cards!

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