Coach John Calipari’s summary of the Kentucky Wildcats’ sixth straight loss – a 62-59 defeat to rival Louisville on Saturday – was simple and to the point: “Losing the wells.”
“Let me say this again, losing the wells,” Calipari said. “We had our chances and we had a few failures.”
Kentucky fell to 1-6 for the third time in the program’s history, a match since the Wildcats in 1911 and 1926, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
The wildcats had their chances late in the game, but passed without a goal for the final 3:22. Devin Askew missed a 3-pointer that would have given Kentucky an advantage with 23 seconds left, and Olivier Sarr’s jumper with eight seconds left hit every side of the rim before falling. Brandon Boston Jr. missed a desperate shot in the final seconds.
Typical Kentucky offensive performances battled on Saturday, with Sarr and Terrence Clarke combining to miss all eight field attempts. Clarke was suffering from an ankle injury – he didn’t start, and Calipari said he’s only about 80% healthy – while Sarr hasn’t scored a goal in the last two games since scoring 22 points against Notre Dame .
“We went into the game, ‘Whenever we can throw the ball to him, we’ll do it,'” Calipari said. “That was our game plan. They did a good job of fighting, coping and doing some things. And he missed a few shots. When you start to miss, start playing with your confidence. It’s not like we’re going to go to him, we are. “
Saturday’s loss gave Kentucky its first six-game losing streak in the 1988-89 season, while it is also the first 1-6 start of any SEC team at Ole Miss in 1989-90, according to Elias.
Perhaps more worrying is that no team that started a season with a 1-6 score has ever received a general offer at the NCAA tournament.
“I don’t think it’s over,” Calipari said. “I haven’t played a league game yet. Let’s go do what we do. I don’t move, I don’t crack.”
The opening schedule of the Kentucky SEC program against South Carolina on Tuesday was postponed due to COVID-19 problems, so the Wildcats will not play until a trip to the state of Mississippi next Saturday.
“Suddenly, you’re punched in the mouth and you start to taste blood, how do you react?” Calipari said.
“How can we limit some failures? … Where is the leadership right now, where did we have chances? We had our chances and we gave them all up.”
Kentucky entered the season with only one player to see the pitch last season for the Wildcats, second striker Keion Brooks – who has not played yet this season due to injury. After an opening win of the season over Morehead, Kentucky lost to Richmond, Kansas and four consecutive ACC opponents.
Calipari questioned his decision to schedule such a difficult start for a young and inexperienced team after a short pre-season.
“We need more time for all the team building things we do here all the time,” Calipari said. “We build a team in the summer. We build a team in the fall. We recover our time. Not where we need to be, but we make up time.
“You have to play games that you can win to build your confidence. … This was the worst program I’ve ever put on. I’d like to hit myself in the mouth.”