44 years ago today UK lost 67-61 to Notre Dame at Freedom Hall in the first UK basketball game I ever attended.
I, too, miss what was then the annual UK vs. Notre Dame game at Freedom Hall. The one you referenced here was played on 12-27-1980, and was the last of four (4) of those annual games in which N.D. All-American Kelly Tripucka played. The 1980 game, in his senior year, was his best game in the series (with 30 points, as you mentioned).
The only game that I saw in this series was the 12-30-1978 game. Tripucka, then a sophomore, was N.D.'s leading scorer in that game, too, with 21 points -- but the overwhelming star of that game was U.K.'s Dwight Anderson, a freshman, who played only 19 minutes in the game but absolutely took over the second half, scoring 17 points to pull out an 81-76 comeback victory for the 'Cats. Dwight had 5 FGs and 7 FTs in the last 15 minutes of that game, when Joe B. finally went to a 1-4 offense. He just gave Dwight the ball at the top of the key, and sent the other four players to stand on the baseline while "The Blur" went to work. Ten straight times down the floor, Anderson went one-on-five for those 17 points, and Notre Dame couldn't stop him. He either got a bucket or made free throws. It was the most incredible single performance I ever saw in-person in a U.K. game. Al McGuire and Dick Enberg called the game for NBC and they interviewed Dwight and Joe B. after the game. It's worth the trouble if y'all can find that interview on YouTube or somewhere. Ahh, yes ... great memories ! Go 'Cats ! ! !