A 40-year-old basketball sits on a mantle in a house in Etowah, Tenn.

It was the ball used in the last college game Jimmy Cornwall ever played. But that's not why it's there.

It was the ball used in the last game ever played in the University of Tennessee's Armory Fieldhouse (before it was enlarged to become Stokely Athletics Center).

That's not why it's there, either.

It's there because it was dribbled, passed and shot the day the Vols ended the perfect season of the famed "Rupp's Runts" of the University of Kentucky.

The date was March 5, 1966. Tennessee 69, Kentucky 62.

To UT star Ron Widby, the details are a bit vague after four decades.

"But I never forget beating Kentucky,'' the man who lettered in four sports said from his home in Texas.

Coach Adolph Rupp's exceptional 1965-66 team has been in the news this year. Their celluloid counterparts play a pivotal role in the movie "Glory Road'' that portrays Texas Western's unlikely rise to fame.

The mighty Wildcats were ranked No. 1, only to be shocked by Texas Western, 72-65, in the NCAA championship game. The event came to be viewed as a cultural watershed, an all-black lineup beating an all-white lineup from a blue-blood dynasty.

But first, the Wildcats were shocked by the Vols.

Actually, shocked is too strong a word, considering the program Ray Mears was building at UT.

"We had played just a week before in Lexington,'' said UK forward Larry Conley. "I fully realized how hard it was going to be to play Tennessee in Knoxville.

"Knowing coach Mears like I did, I knew he was going to make some adjustments.''

Kentucky won in Lexington, 78-64, to improve to 23-0.

The Wildcats had been No. 1 since Feb. 12, coasting to an average victory margin of 19 points a game. Rupp was on the cover of Sports Illustrated the week of the game.

Dubbed "Rupp's Runts" because their tallest starter was 6-foot-5 Thad Jaracz, the Cats had experienced only two prior close calls when they lined up before a packed Fieldhouse of 7,500.

Tennessee was 18-8, riding the scoring of the 6-4 Widby and 6-9 senior Austin "Red" Robbins.

"I always got pumped up to play Riley,'' said Widby.

Riley was Pat Riley, the All-America forward who went on to fame as an NBA coach.

The other "Runts" were Conley, Jaracz, Tommy Kron and All-America guard Louie Dampier.

"They didn't have a weakness,'' said Widby. "They were good at all positions.''

UT got better as the season went on. A key factor was the development of the 5-8 Cornwall as floor leader at point guard.

"Coach Mears had us ready,'' Cornwall said. "He was a motivator and he could get the most out of us.''

He did that day.

Widby scored 22 points, Robbins 18. Cornwall added 11. Howard Bayne doubled his scoring average with 12 points. He and Robbins ruled the boards.

Tom Hendrix and Larry McIntosh disrupted the Wildcat shooters.

"The two things I remember,'' said Conley, "are that every time I turned around, Widby was making a jump shot and that Bayne just dominated us on the glass.''

When it was over, Rupp said he was disappointed for his boys. He wanted them to have a perfect season. Dampier said it was the worst game he ever played.

The Vols threw Mears in the shower. Cornwall isn't sure how he ended up with the basketball, but he's proud to have it.

He also has one of the nets the Vols cut down and a tape of the game that he watches every few years.

UT's season was over since only one team per conference went to the NCAA tournament. Kentucky remained No. 1 and advanced to the title game in College Park, Md.

But the night belonged to the little school from El Paso and its all-black lineup.

"They outplayed us,'' said Conley. "They were the better team that night.''

Conley, a long-time TV basketball analyst, found "Glory Road" entertaining and generally fair.

"I'm more famous for having lost a game than having won one,'' he said. "If we had won, it would have just been another championship for Kentucky.

"But the fact that 40 years later we're still talking about that game, with all that's gone on in the country, that amazes me.''

In Tennessee, there's still that other Kentucky loss to talk about. Nothing that would interest Hollywood, but a special moment nonetheless.

"The thing I remember,'' said Widby, "is how big of an underdog we were.

"It didn't seem like anybody gave us a chance.''

For seniors Robbins, Cornwall, Bayne and McIntosh, it was, in fact, a Hollywood script.

Said Cornwall, "You couldn't ask for a better ending to a college career.''