# 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".

## 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. ||||||

## NCAA Championship

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

## 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

## 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 |