Before Kentucky beat a six-game losing streak with a 78-73 overtime victory in Mississippi on Saturday, Wildcats coach John Calipari said he told his team he expected Dontaie Allen – a state product that recorded just 19 minutes and scored seven combined points before the victory – it would help the team secure victory in their first SEC game.
Allen answered that call, ending with a team of 23 points and going 7-to-11 in the 3-point range in a wild game that also included Calipari’s ejection with just over nine minutes to play in the regulation.
“When you do that, you kind of prove your point, and that’s what you should do when you get a chance,” said Calipari of Allen’s departure. “I’m very happy for him. I told the team before the game that I hope he wins a lot, because we needed to win.”
Kentucky was involved in the worst basketball phase of the program in nearly 100 years. He hasn’t lost six consecutive games since 1927, three years before the program signed Adolph Rupp. It was also the first time that the team suffered six consecutive defeats under Calipari.
Allen, a former Kentucky basketball player and redshirt freshman who lost last season because of an injury, said he never doubted his potential and continued to work, hoping that Calipari would give him the opportunity to show his talent.
“To be honest, I don’t think it was pressure, because I worked hard,” said Allen. “I didn’t know when my opportunity would come. Nobody does, so I was just keeping my head down and working hard. I’m grateful for the opportunity I had tonight.”
The game was reminiscent of the previous six games Kentucky had lost. The State of Mississippi had the advantage throughout the confrontation until Kentucky ended up strong in regulation after Calipari’s expulsion.
In both overtime, Allen made big shots, including a crucial 3-point shot in the second overtime, to help the Wildcats (2-6, 1-0 SEC) win for the first time in over a month.
Calipari said he did not plan the expulsion, which left assistant Bruiser Flint to lead the team and was the result of a second technical foul he suffered after an argument with one of the referees with his team losing six points in the middle of the second half. But he also said he hoped it would give his players a boost.
“I know you’re going to say, ‘Did you do this on purpose?’ The first? Yes, because there were two or three things that happened that we wouldn’t have a chance to win if we didn’t [fix]”, he said.” My second one was like, ‘Yes, OK.’ “
He added: “When I walked away, I said it would be a good or a bad thing.”
Olivier Sarr, who finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, said he expected the ejection based on the emotions Calipari showed throughout the game.
“For me, and I think the whole team, I think it was something that we knew could happen, knowing the past that the coach had with games like that,” said Sarr. “But for us, it was more like just, ‘Okay, the coach is not here – we have to execute’.”
Calipari said he hid in the locker room to watch his team celebrate after the game and “remember why I do what I do”.
He also said that he is still focused on helping his team get to the NCAA tournament. Before last season, the last time Kentucky had three or more non-conference defeats when entering the conference game was in 2013-14, when the Wildcats raced to Final Four after a difficult start. The Wildcats didn’t have a chance to compete for the NCAA tournament last season after three non-conference defeats because the tournament was canceled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m just watching football teams that played 3-8 in bowling,” he said. “We don’t know where these things are going.”