KSR Today: The Day After a Kentucky NCAA Tournament Loss
There have been 122 Kentucky basketball seasons. Eight of them ended with a win in the NCAA Tournament. Sadness followed the others.
Unfortunately, that sadness has returned, a little earlier than anyone wanted. While most around Big Blue Nation hoped Mark Pope would just get Kentucky back to the Sweet 16, nobody wanted to see the season end with a loss to the Tennessee Volunteers. That’s exactly what happened in Indianapolis on Friday night.
In the regular season meetings, Kentucky blitzed Tennessee from the jump. The shoe was on the other foot in the Sweet 16. Even though each team brought some early nerves to the court, the Vols were the ones who were clearly out for blood. They dictated the tempo and dominated the boards en route to an 88-75 win.
Tennessee never had to sweat. The Vols took a double-digit lead with nine minutes to go in the first half and Kentucky was never able to get within 12 points the rest of the way. Even if Kentucky played quality defense for 25 seconds, Tennessee got a second look. The Vols turned 14 offensive rebounds into 19 second-chance points. That’s the ballgame.
Mark Pope delivered so many big wins in his first season as the Kentucky head basketball coach. It ended with one big, sad loss to a bitter rival.
Indianapolis is still the WORST
Kentucky did not play its best basketball against Tennessee, nowhere close. The Cats played poorly in a place that has haunted Big Blue Nation.
Kentucky has now last five straight games in Indianapolis, including a couple of gut-wrenching losses at Lucas Oil Stadium. It was where Kentucky’s undefeated season came to an end. Over the last ten years in Indy, they also got blown out by Zion Williamson‘s Duke team, fell in double overtime loss to Michigan State, blew a late lead against Kansas, and suffered a loss to No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s. I’d like to say that Kentucky should never play another game in Indianapolis, but guess where next year’s Final Four is? The city has cursed Kentucky basketball.
Got thoughts? Continue the conversation on KSBoard, the KSR Message Board.
Kentucky Seniors Deliver Heartfelt Send-Off
It didn’t end the way they wanted it to, but this year’s transfer portal one-and-dones are incredibly grateful for their time at Kentucky and hate to see it come to an end.
“Yeah, I don’t know who is in charge of the jerseys and all that, but they’re going to go through some trouble to get mine,” Koby Brea said Friday night.
Andrew Carr added, “Don’t want to untie my shoes. Don’t want to take off this jersey. Definitely shout out BBN and all the fans. It’s like nowhere I have ever experienced, and really have just had the most fun playing basketball this season, and I really appreciate them and caring about us more than just basketball players.”
More Postgame Coverage from the Kentucky NCAA Tournament Loss
Paint today, promise tomorrow: How Pope earned an A-grade in his first season at Kentucky
Mark Pop and Lamont Butler shared a special moment following the season-ending loss
Views from an Emotional Kentucky Locker Room
Mark Pope’s Postgame Presser with Brea, Butler, and Carr
Otega Oweh recaps his first season: “The most fun I’ve had playing basketball”
Kentucky Seniors Proud to Set the Culture in the Pope Era
Lamont Butler: Kentucky set a high bar in Mark Pope’s first season
Box Score: Tennessee’s pace of play controls the game
Donovan Dent Spurns Kentucky for UCLA
When it rains, it pours. In the middle of the double-digit loss to Tennessee, Kentucky got some bad news in the transfer portal. For a time, it looked like the Cats were on the verge of securing a commitment from the top-ranked player in the transfer portal, Donovan Dent. Pulling the West Coast kid away proved to be too much as Dent committed to play in Westwood at UCLA. Jacob Polacheck shared a detailed timeline of the recruitment this morning on KSR+.
Kentucky Lands Kam Williams from the Portal
The blow may be slightly softened by the good news the Cats received before the game. Kentucky secured a portal commitment from former Tulane wing Kam Williams.
“Not many people get opportunities like this, so I wanted to pull the trigger fast,” Williams told Jonathan Givony of ESPN. “More people are waiting to fill that spot, so I had to take advantage.”
A 3-and-D athlete, as a freshman the 6-foot-8 swingman shot better than 41% from three and averaged 1.1 blocks per game. Williams is an ideal fit for Mark Pope’s scheme.
Two Final Four Tickets Up For Grabs
We are down to eight. The first two tickets to the Final Four in San Antonio will be punched today. Up first, Florida is a 6.5-point favorite over Texas Tech. That game will tip off at 6:09 p.m. The night game also is a 6.5-point spread, with Duke getting the nod over Alabama at 8:49 p.m. You can catch both games on TBS or truTV.
Michigan State and Auburn both needed to come from behind to earn a spot in the Elite Eight. The South Region will get the later tip-off on Sunday evening, while Tennessee will play Houston, who survived a furious late rally from Purdue in Indy, thanks to a game-winning baseline out of bounds play in the final seconds.
Kentucky Will Crown a New State Champion
And then there were four. South Oldham outlasted J-Town in a one-point nail-biter, while Bowling Green needed overtime to outlast Ashland Blazer. Last year’s state championship game featured a few future Kentucky Wildcats, Travis Perry and Trent Noah. Great Crossing is in the semifinals for the second straight season, giving Malachi Moreno a chance to win a state title before he takes his talents to the University of Kentucky.
11:00 a.m. | Bowling Green vs. South Oldham
1:30 | Great Crossing vs. Montgomery County
7:30 | Sweet 16 Championship Game
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