YouTube Gold: Duke vs. Kentucky In The 1998 Jimmy V Classic

In the 1998 South Regional finals, Kentucky got its long-awaited vengeance for the loss to Duke and Christian Laettner in the 1992 Eastern Regional Finals when Laettner hit what has ever been since known as The Shot. It’s so famous that it even has its own Wikipedia page.

Duke led for much of that ‘98 regional championship in St Petersburg, but down the stretch, Kentucky isolated Steve Wojciechowski and turned Wayne Turner loose. No one questioned Wojo’s heart but he couldn't contain Turner and that was the end of that.

The teams met again in December and this time, Duke was working on one of the great runs of any ACC team, ultimately finishing 37-2.

The December game wasn’t a thing of beauty but Duke won, 71-60. Elton Brand and Shane Battier were sophomores. Chris Carrawell was a junior. Trajan Langdon and Will Avery were the backcourt and Corey Maggette came off the bench.

Over the course of the 1998-99 season, the Blue Devils would lose twice, once to Cincinnati in the Great Alaska Shootout in November on a brilliant last-second play and to UConn in the national championship game, 77-74.

Arguably, this Duke team was the best ACC team to not win the national championship.