After looking like a team that could be a legitimate underdog in next week’s Southeast Conference tournament, while winning three straight, Kentucky returned to its original form and fell in the last two games towards the regular season final against South Carolina on Saturday in Lexington, Ky.
Since I hit then … No. 19 Tennessee on February 20, the Wildcats (8-15, 7-9 SEC) lost to Florida at home and Ole Miss on the road and are guaranteed a record loss conference in the regular season for the first time since going 8-10 in 1988-89.
“We were getting to where I am, right, we are making it,” said coach John Calipari. “We are going to be good. We are going to be one of those teams and all we have to do is break this and this, and this is going to be one of those. And then we go back to two games. Reverse totally.”
Against Ole Miss on Tuesday, the Wildcats had four double-digit players, led by Keion Brooks Jr.’s 16 points, but the Rebels dominated the exchanges by a 42-28 margin in their 70-62 win. The defeat denied the Wildcats the opportunity to compete for a spot in the SEC’s quarter-final tournament and demoted them to one of Thursday’s second round games.
“Let’s hope,” said Calipari. “Look, it’s not over. It’s not over until it’s over. We have a Saturday and we have a league tournament and, you know, like I said, everyone who plays, we can win or they can win us. That’s where we are with it.”
South Carolina is also an enigma for your coach. The Gamecocks (6-13, 4-11), who already won in Florida, followed their 91-70 victory in Georgia last weekend with a 101-73 loss at home to No. 12 Arkansas on the night of Tuesday.
“It’s just one of them,” said coach Frank Martin. “One year of them. We get good pieces and when the pieces work well together we represent our team in the right way.
“But obviously, most of the time we don’t connect. We have a lot of guys who are playing for ‘me’ and not for ‘us’ and that’s unfortunate.”
– Field-level media