Greatness arrived at Rupp Arena hours before the opening tip — and for a moment, it felt like the night belonged to the past.
Members of Kentucky’s legendary 1996 national championship team returned to Lexington for a 30-year reunion, bringing denim jerseys, unforgettable memories, and the weight of history with them. One of the captains from that team, Mark Pope, now stood on the sideline as head coach, guiding a very different group of Wildcats into a showdown with Tennessee.
But when the ball went up, history stepped aside.
This night became about the 2026 Kentucky Wildcats — and the message their coach delivered afterward may have been louder than the win itself.
Before tipoff, Pope invited some of his former teammates to speak to the current roster. Derek Anderson didn’t sugarcoat what it meant to wear Kentucky across the chest.
“We had a passion for beating teams bad,” Anderson told them. “You’ve got to have that mindset. People want to beat us. People don’t like us. Well, we don’t like you either. Let’s go prove it.
The 1996 team didn’t just win — they dominated, outscoring opponents by an average of 22 points per game. Anderson admitted he’s been watching Pope’s team closely this season, especially as they’ve grown through adversity.
“There were struggles early,” he said. “But I’m starting to see passion. And when you play with passion, you can beat anybody.
That passion was tested again Saturday night.
Kentucky trailed Tennessee by 14 points at halftime — a deficit that would’ve been unthinkable for the ’96 squad. But for this group, it wasn’t unfamiliar.
“It was good in the locker room,” Otega Oweh said. “We’ve been here before. We know not to panic. We just make adjustments.”
It was the fourth time in 24 days Kentucky had trailed by double digits at the break. And for the third time, they came storming back.
The Wildcats matched Tennessee’s physicality coming out of halftime. Slowly, the lead shrank. An Oweh dunk cut it to two. Moments later, he spun baseline and finished a difficult reverse layup that gave Kentucky its first lead since the opening minutes.
Rupp Arena erupted.
From there, it became a possession-by-possession fight. Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes knew it was coming.
“You knew it was going to come down to a last-minute play,” Barnes said. “Even when we were up big.
With under a minute remaining and Kentucky down one, Pope drew up a play — then changed it as the huddle broke. The ball went to Oweh on the wing. After working around a Malachi Moreno screen, Oweh forced a switch that left 6-foot-11 Felix Okpara guarding him.
Oweh attacked.
As all five Tennessee defenders collapsed into the paint, he leapt and fired a perfect pass to Collin Chandler on the wing.
Nothing but net.
Kentucky 71. Tennessee 69. Rupp Arena lost its mind.
After the shot, Pope noticed Oweh grabbing Chandler and letting him know exactly how big the moment was.
“I told him, ‘You a bad motherf*****,’” Oweh said later with a grin. “He’s cold. He’s done this too many times.”
Chandler’s résumé of clutch moments continues to grow — from buzzer-beaters to game-sealing steals to dagger threes like this one. Saturday’s may have been the biggest yet.
Kentucky closed out the final seconds and secured a 74–71 win, completing a season sweep of Tennessee. Behind the bench, members of the 1996 team celebrated like it was three decades ago.
When Pope headed toward the tunnel, his former teammates were waiting. Cameron Mills. Derek Anderson. One by one, the “Untouchables” surrounded their old captain, celebrating another Kentucky win — this time, from the other side.
Then came Pope’s message — the one everyone’s been talking about.
“This isn’t about 30 years ago. It’s not about denim,” Pope said. “This is about the story these guys are writing right now. And it’s special.
Collin Chandler echoed the sentiment.
“We’re grateful for the history,” he said. “But tonight was about us. This is our team. We’re writing our own story.”
On a night drenched in nostalgia, Kentucky made something clear:
The past will always matter in Lexington — but this team isn’t living in it.
They’re building something of their own.
