A Very Attractive Matchup

The Kentucky Wildcats made shots with daylight peeking through glass, students bouncing on the turf and a record crowd rooting against them.

Playing with impressive poise -- as if they were home in Lexington at Rupp Arena -- the eighth-ranked Wildcats, led by Gerald Fitch’s 25 points, defeated No. 21 Michigan State, 79-74, on Saturday before a basketball world-record crowd of 78,129 at Ford Field.

“It got loud at times, but we blocked the noise out and focused on the game at hand,” said Kentucky’s Cliff Hawkins, who had 13 points. “We didn’t get caught up in the atmosphere.”

The Wildcats, who never trailed, are 5-0 for the first time since 1992.

Paul Davis scored a career-high 24 points for Michigan State (3-4), which has a losing record for the first time since 1995-96, Tom Izzo’s first season as coach.

“I’m more disappointed than usual because we had an opportunity of a lifetime,” Izzo said.

Basketball’s previous attendance record was 75,000, set in 1951 when the Harlem Globetrotters played at Olympic Stadium in Berlin.

The NCAA attendance record was 68,112, set in 1990 at the Louisiana Superdome when Notre Dame played LSU. The NBA record is 62,046 for a Chicago-Atlanta game at the Georgia Dome in 1998.

“We are so pleased and excited to be a part of such a historical-type atmosphere,” Kentucky Coach Tubby Smith said. “It was a real festive atmosphere. It was a real happening event.”

The undersized Wildcats didn’t have much trouble scoring inside against the Spartans, finishing with a 44-26 scoring advantage in the paint. When they shot from the perimeter, the unique sight lines didn’t seem to bother them. Kentucky shot 60%. The Spartans shot 43.1%.

When the Wildcats shot from the right wing in the first half, they saw daylight beyond the basket through a 65-foot-high glass wall. In the second half, it was dark.

After trailing by 10 points in the second half, Michigan State pulled to within one point with 8:21 left.

Kentucky then took a six-point lead before Shannon Brown’s two free throws pulled the Spartans within two with 1:04 left. Fitch’s two free throws with 21 seconds left clinched the win for the Wildcats.

Besides the 65,000 the stadium holds for a Detroit Lion game, there were about 5,000 students -- without seats -- standing, jumping and lounging on the artificial turf.

Another 5,000 fans had seats on the floor, some paying as much as $500, as did hundreds of band members from both schools. Others spent $8 for seats in the upper deck that were so far away jersey numbers could be seen only with binoculars.