Andy Lyons / Getty Images

The Kentucky Wildcat mascot celebrates following the 88-44 victory over Drexel on Monday. The victory was the 2,000th in the history of Kentucky basketball.

updated 11:06 p.m. ET Dec. 21, 2009

LEXINGTON, Ky. - John Calipari spent weeks downplaying Kentucky’s pursuit of 2,000 wins, saying his team needed to be focused on getting better, not making history.

Moments after the third-ranked Wildcats routed Drexel 88-44 to become the first NCAA team to reach 2,000 victories, Calipari admitted it’s pretty good when you can do both.

“We weren’t a part of many of those 2,000 wins (but) we had a job to do and that was drag us across the line before that other blue team got there,” Calipari said, referring to North Carolina as he stood on the confetti-strewn floor at Rupp Arena. “This is a special moment for this program and this state.”

The future looks pretty bright, too.

DeMarcus Cousins and Patrick Patterson scored 18 points apiece as Kentucky (12-0) roared into history with easily its most dominant performance of the season. Superstar freshman John Wall had 16 points and seven assists.

Kentucky improved to 2,000-635-1 in 107 seasons, just ahead of North Carolina’s 1,992 victories. Kansas is third with 1,980.

“From the beginning to the end, getting to 2,000 wins proves that Kentucky has been the strongest college basketball program,” former Kentucky star Dan Issel said.

The Wildcats entered the record books in style. Cousins and Wall took control early and Kentucky pulled away with the kind of dazzling play that should give it a pretty good head start over the Tar Heels on the race to 3,000.

The Wildcats shot 53 percent, outrebounded the Dragons 45-22 and could have won even more emphatically if Calipari hadn’t started substituting liberally with about seven minutes left.

“That’s as good as we’ve played together,” Calipari said. “We hit a couple of shots early and kept going.”

Samme Givens led Drexel (6-6) with 11 points, but the Dragons shot just 31 percent from the field and spent most of the game as invited guests to Kentucky’s celebration.

It was a party more than 106 years in the making.

The first win was an 11-10 squeaker over the Lexington YMCA on Feb. 18, 1903.

The program needed 66 years to reach 1,000 victories. Students celebrated the milestone with cake alongside legendary coach Adolph Rupp at Memorial Coliseum in 1969.

This party was a little bigger.

Streamers showered the court moments after the final buzzer while players donned black T-shirts commemorating the occasion.

“I saw stuff flying, we were just trying to enjoy ourselves,” forward Josh Harrellson said. “The crowd was going wild. They kept getting louder and louder.”

Maybe it was out of relief more than anything.

Though the Wildcats needed just 40 years to go from 1,000 to 2,000 — an average of 25 wins a year — getting to 2,000 first wasn’t exactly a sure thing.

Though the last four decades have included three national titles and seven Final Four appearances, it also has featured a couple of ugly episodes. Kentucky narrowly avoided the death penalty following a recruiting scandal involving former coach Eddie Sutton in the late 1980s.

Rick Pitino revived the program during the 1990s, and for the last few years Kentucky’s march toward becoming the first school to 2,000 seemed inevitable.

But the lead over North Carolina has eroded over the last few years, particularly during Billy Gillispie’s tumultuous tenure. The Tar Heels shaved 30 games off Kentucky’s lead in the last two seasons and began the year just four games back.

Suddenly the marathon had turned into a sprint.

More news

Mark Ralston / AFP - Getty Images

'A chance' Coach K coaches US again

Duke coach said that after winning his second gold medal in men's basketball would be his Team USA finale. That may not be the case anymore.

CBT: Ex-Memphis F Black transferring to Kansas

Headlines

• Label

CBT: Rutgers hires new AD with past scandal

CBT: Arrest made in assault of Brown U. athlete

CBT: Coach K reportedly made $9.7 million in 2011

CBT: Jayhawks win the Wiggins lottery

CBT: Is Wiggins the anti-LeBron?

CBT: Tennessee will honor Summit with statue

CBT: Brown hoops player critically hurt in assault

CBT: Pitino getting special bottle of Maker's Mark