The Top Six teams in last week's AP poll -- including Kentucky -- all lost on Saturday in conference road games. But Duke -- the likely National Champion -- did not lose at Syracuse. So Duke is now up to number 4, and Kentucky has moved down to number 7.
Kentucky entered the 2019 NCAA Tournament as the number 7 team, and went all the way to the Elite Eight, where they lost to number-14 Auburn in overtime. Kentucky lost that game because Tyler Herro, Keldon Johnson, and Immanuel Quickly combined to go 2-13 from three-point range, and because P.J. Washington went 6-11 at the free throw line. This was a real heartbreaker because Duke lost later that afternoon, and UK could have won it all.
Kentucky entered the 2005 NCAA Tournament as the number 7 team, and went all the way to the Elite Eight, where they lost to number-15 Michigan State in double overtime. This was the game that, in my opinion, ultimately doomed Tubby Smith. If he had gone to the Final Four in 2005, he could have survived the disappointing seasons in 2006 and 2007. And he could have won this game if Rajon Rondo had been able to run a play at the end of the first overtime. But none of that happened, and now we are where we are.
Kentucky entered the 1998 SEC Tournament as the number 7 team, and swept to victory with easy wins over Alabama (82-71), Arkansas (99-74), and South Carolina (86-56). The Cats then moved up to number 5 and went on to win the National Championship.
Last game of the year in Rupp until November. Hard to believe. It feels like this season went pretty fast.
ReplyDeleteFlew.
DeleteCats beat Ole Miss 83-72 on Senior Night to close out an undefeated season at Rupp. This will hurt them on Ken Pom, as they were supposed to win by 18. Ole Miss played hard, but UK's defense needs to get better. On the other hand, UK's offense looked sharp:
ReplyDelete27-41 on 2-point shots (65.9 percent)
6-14 on 3-point shots (42.9 percent)
11-15 from the line (73.3 percent)
That's pretty good.
Final regular season game of the year for Kentucky on Saturday at Florida.
ReplyDeleteI really do miss having the multi-year relationships with more of the UK players. I'm glad our coach is good at anticipating the impact of rules changes and positioning our team to excel in the redefined environments (one and done, NIL, etc.) But I do miss the old way of getting to fall in love with Fred Cowan over four seasons.
ReplyDeleteI had totally forgotten about Keldon Johnson.