It’s time for me to share my side of the story of the University of Evansville’s historic upset of #1 Kentucky last season at Rupp Arena. For me, it was personal. A proud 2013 University of Louisville graduate and lifelong fan, I have struggled with the lack of competitiveness surrounding the Louisville/Kentucky rivalry during the John Calipari era. There was no team in the country I would rather see the Aces takedown – with or without their #1 ranking at the time.
One of the most common misconceptions that people seem to have about the upset is the assumption that we couldn’t possibly have been prepared for it. We could have never predicted the whirlwind that was the next 48 hours, but we certainly came up with our “what if we actually do this” game plan in advance and felt prepared to capitalize if we pulled the upset.
I had been to Rupp Arena probably 5 or 6 times before, but never for a UK basketball game. It is hard not to be intimidated by the size of the arena, the banners hanging in the rafters and the NBA-ready players shooting around before doors opened. None of that seemed to phase the UE men’s basketball team, however. They entered Rupp Arena with a confidence and swagger that was almost hard to believe…but it spread to the rest of the staff that had made the trip.
My job from my courtside seat on the baseline was to tweet the score updates from our team account during the game. While this is not something I normally do, I was equipped with my laptop and library of GIFs and was ready to go. The Aces lead virtually from start to finish and each and every timeout led to more anxiety and more pressure to deliver on my game update tweets.
As Sam Cunliffe calmly drained 2 free throws and the Wildcats’ desperation three-pointer at the buzzer fell short, the surreal realization that we had done it swept over me. The next hour or so featured a lot of celebration, pictures, ticket offer emails and creative content. Our beloved Purple Aces were the center of the college basketball universe…
It became more and more real as my phone flooded with texts, tweets and phone calls while we raced to beat the team bus back to campus. On the way, I frantically tried to organize a special return to campus for the team which was expected back around midnight. We did beat the bus by a matter of minutes to find hundreds of students and coaches waiting on Walnut Street (for a school with an enrollment of about 2,000, this was significant). It was an unforgettable scene.
I then headed home and attempted, unsuccessfully, to sleep for a few hours. As I grabbed Starbucks early the next morning, signs from local businesses along my drive already read “Go Aces!”. After a “Donut Underestimate Us” event in the president’s office (free donuts for students and staff with our mascot, Ace Purple), I then had about 2 hours to plan an impromptu pep rally on campus. Once again, hundreds of students, employees and media flooded the Ridgway University Center to greet the team, spirit squad and pep band. I should also mention that we had a home game to prepare for 2 days after the UK game amongst all the madness.
Despite how the season ended up going, I still get misty-eyed when I think about what those young men accomplished that night in Rupp Arena. The rest of the world got a quick glimpse of the team, university and city that I have so much pride for. #ForTheAces
- Scott Peace (@Scott_Peace)
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