Kansas Jayhawks pass Kentucky Wildcats on all-time college basketball victory list
Kansas’ 66-61 victory over Providence on Friday at the United Center not only vaulted the Jayhawks into the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight, but also gave KU’s program the most wins in college basketball history.
After the win, KU has 2,354 victories against 877 losses. Kentucky, which lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Saint Peter’s, is 2,353-720.
A Kentucky reporter asked KU coach Bill Self on Tuesday during Self’s first pre-Sweet 16 news conference of the week about the significance of passing Kentucky on the all-time win list on Friday.
“I’ll be real candid with you, all that means to me is that we beat Providence,” Self said. “That’s all that means to me. I think those types of things are great. They can be used for recruiting potentially, if you are ever in that position.
“I’m sure that Kentucky has used that over the years which they should. Maybe if we ever get there we can use it as well,” Self added. “But I don’t really think that what happens now really has a lot to do with what happened in 1950 and 1935 and other years like that. So we hope we become that. But for me and for our players it’s only because it means we won one more game.”
Asked about possibly passing Kentucky in the near future, KU sophomore forward Jalen Wilson said Tuesday: “I haven’t really thought about it, but it’s definitely an honor to the school (and the) representation of all the history that’s out here, all the different players that came through here to get those wins. It’s special to be the team that would be able to get that.”
Kentucky defeated KU, 80-62, on Jan. 29 at Allen Fieldhouse.
“I actually think that that game was good for us,” Self said Tuesday. “Even if we were good that game, I’m not sure our good would have been good enough to beat their great that game. I thought they were by far the best team we played this year that game and they didn’t have a weakness that game.
“I was disappointed because the stage was big. And of course nobody likes losing especially at home when it means a lot to your fan base. But I think that was good for us because it humbled us to know that in order for us to compete at the highest level, which they (Wildcats) were that day, we’ve got to get a lot better. So it was probably as important a game as we played this year. I know we had some big wins, but I’m not sure any win was bigger or better for us than that loss was for us that day.”
This story was originally published March 25, 2022 at 7:13 PM with the headline "Kansas Jayhawks pass Kentucky Wildcats on all-time college basketball victory list."
