1949–50 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team

The 1949–50 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented University of Kentucky as a member of the Southeast Conference. The head coach was Adolph Rupp and the team played their home games at Alumni Gymnasium for the final season. The Wildcats won SEC regular season and tournament championships. After losing to eventual National Invitation Tournament champion CCNY, Kentucky finished the season with a record of 25–5 (11–2 SEC).

1949–50 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
SEC regular season champions SEC tournament champions
National Invitation Tournament 2nd Round
Conference	Southeast Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 3
Record	25–5 (11–2 SEC)
Head coach	Adolph Rupp
Assistant coach	Harry Lancaster
Captain	Dale Barnstable
Home arena	Alumni Gymnasium
Seasons ← 1948–49 1950–51 →

1949–50 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 3 Kentucky †	11	–	2		.846			25	–	5		.833
Vanderbilt	11	–	3		.786			17	–	8		.680
Auburn	12	–	6		.667			17	–	7		.708
Tulane	8	–	4		.667			15	–	7		.682
Alabama	8	–	9		.471			9	–	12		.429
Georgia	6	–	7		.462			15	–	9		.625
Tennessee	5	–	6		.455			15	–	11		.577
Georgia Tech	7	–	9		.438			14	–	13		.519
LSU	5	–	8		.385			13	–	12		.520
Mississippi State	6	–	10		.375			7	–	11		.389
Florida	4	–	10		.286			9	–	14		.391
Ole Miss	4	–	13		.235			8	–	17		.320
† 1950 SEC Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

Charles Newton, a player on this squad, returned to Kentucky as athletic director from 1989 to 2000.

Roster

1949–50 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G/F 18 Dale Barnstable (C) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Antioch, Illinois F 19 Walter Hirsch 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Dayton, Ohio F 25 Jim Line 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Akron, Ohio F 11 Shelby Linville 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Middletown, Ohio G/F 35 Charles Newton 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Fort Lauderdale, Florida G 31 Leonard Pearson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Chicago, Illinois C 77 Bill Spivey 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Warner Robins, Georgia G 7 Guy Strong 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Jr Irvine, Kentucky G 38 Bobby Watson 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 155 lb (70 kg) So Owensboro, Kentucky G 32 Lucian Whitaker 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Sarasota, Florida	Head coach Adolph Rupp (Kansas) Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt

^[2]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
Dec 3, 1949		Indiana Central College	W 84–61	1–0	Alumni Gymnasium  Lexington, Kentucky
Dec 10, 1949		Western Ontario	W 90–18	2–0	Alumni Gymnasium  Lexington, Kentucky
Dec 15, 1949*		at St. John's	L 58–69	2–1	Madison Square Garden  New York, New York
Dec 21, 1949*		DePaul	W 49–47	3–1	Jefferson County Armory  Louisville, Kentucky
Dec 23, 1949*		at Purdue	W 60–54	4–1	Lambert Fieldhouse  West Lafayette, Indiana
Dec 29, 1949*		vs. Villanova Sugar Bowl Classic	W 57–56^[3] ^OT	5–1	Municipal Auditorium  New Orleans, Louisiana
Dec 30, 1949*		vs. Bradley Sugar Bowl Classic	W 71–66^[3]	6–1	Municipal Auditorium  New Orleans, Louisiana
Jan 2, 1950*		at Arkansas	W 57–53	7–1	Robinson Auditorium  Little Rock, Arkansas
Jan 4, 1950		Mississippi State	W 87–55	8–1 (1–0)	Owensboro Sportscenter  Owensboro, Kentucky
Jan 9, 1950*	No. 2	North Carolina	W 83–44	9–1	Alumni Gymnasium  Lexington, Kentucky
Jan 14, 1950	No. 2	at Tennessee	L 53–66	9–2 (1–1)	Alumni Memorial Gymnasium  Knoxville, Tennessee
Jan 16, 1950	No. 2	at Georgia Tech	W 61–47	10–2 (2–1)	Heisman Gymnasium  Atlanta, Georgia
Jan 17, 1950	No. 5	at Georgia	L 60–71	10–3 (2–2)	Woodruff Hall  Athens, Georgia
Jan 21, 1950*	No. 5	at DePaul	W 86–53	11–3	Chicago Stadium  Chicago, Illinois
Jan 23, 1950*	No. 5	at Notre Dame	L 51–64	11–4	Notre Dame Fieldhouse  Notre Dame, Indiana
Jan 26, 1950*	No. 4	at Xavier	W 58–47	12–4	Schmidt Fieldhouse  Cincinnati, Ohio
Jan 28, 1950	No. 4	Georgia	W 88–56	13–4 (3–2)	Alumni Gymnasium  Lexington, Kentucky
Jan 30, 1950	No. 4	at Vanderbilt	W 58–54	14–4 (4–2)	McQuiddy Gymnasium  Nashville, Tennessee
Feb 2, 1950	No. 6	at Alabama	W 66–64	15–4 (5–2)	Foster Auditorium  Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Feb 4, 1950	No. 6	vs. Ole Miss	W 61–55	16–4 (6–2)	Ellis Auditorium  Memphis, Tennessee
Feb 11, 1950	No. 7	Tennessee	W 79–52	17–4 (7–2)	Alumni Gymnasium  Lexington, Kentucky
Feb 13, 1950	No. 7	Alabama	W 77–57	18–4 (8–2)	Alumni Gymnasium  Lexington, Kentucky
Feb 15, 1950	No. 5	Ole Miss	W 90–50	19–4 (9–2)	Alumni Gymnasium  Lexington, Kentucky
Feb 18, 1950	No. 5	Georgia Tech	W 97–62	20–4 (10–2)	Alumni Gymnasium  Lexington, Kentucky
Feb 23, 1950*	No. 5	Xavier	W 58–53	21–4	Alumni Gymnasium  Lexington, Kentucky
Feb 25, 1950*	No. 5	Vanderbilt	W 70–66	22–4 (11–2)	Alumni Gymnasium  Lexington, Kentucky
SEC Tournament
Mar 3, 1950*	(1) No. 4	vs. (10) Mississippi State Second Round	W 56–46	23–4	Jefferson County Armory  Louisville, Kentucky
Mar 4, 1950*	(1) No. 4	vs. (4) Georgia Semifinal	W 79–63	24–4	Jefferson County Armory  Louisville, Kentucky
Mar 4, 1950*	(1) No. 4	vs. (7) Tennessee Championship Game	W 95–58^[4]	25–4	Jefferson County Armory  Louisville, Kentucky
National Invitation Tournament
Mar 14, 1950*	No. 3	at CCNY Second Round	L 50–89	25–5	Madison Square Garden  New York, New York
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

^[5]

Rankings

Main article: 1949–50 NCAA men's basketball rankings

Team players drafted into the NBA

• No one from the Wildcats men's team was selected in the 1950 NBA draft.^[6]

References

1. sports-reference.com 1949-50 Southeastern Conference Season Summary
2. "1949–50 Kentucky Wildcats Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
3. "Sugar Bowl Collegiate Basketball History". Sugar Bowl. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
4. "Kentucky Trounces Tennessee, 95-58". The Times (Shreveport). March 5, 1950. Retrieved September 6, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
5. "2019-20 Kentucky Men's Basketball Record Book" (pdf). University of Kentucky Athletics. p. 188. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
6. "1950 NBA Draft". Sports Reference. Retrieved September 6, 2020.