John Calipari 'disappointed' to lose Senior Night

Kentucky has had an up-and-down season, to say the least. And on Senior Night on Wednesday against Vanderbilt it was another down, with the Wildcats falling 68-66 to the Commodores.

That was not exactly what coach John Calipari had in mind.

“I wanted to leave them with a win, so I’m disappointed for them,” Calipari said. “But I’m going to tell you again, we fought and did everything we could to give ourselves a chance to win. We just needed to make one more shot.”

The Kentucky coach has repeatedly harped on the strength of the SEC this season as his team has struggled to string together consistent results.

Wednesday night’s game against Vanderbilt was an opportunity to stretch Kentucky’s winning streak to five games, which would have been a season long. Instead, Vanderbilt got in the way.

Calipari credited the Commodores with their ability to flip the game on its head just before halftime.

“But give Vanderbilt credit,” Calipari said. “When they came back at the end of the half it was a totally different game. That last minute of the half, and that’s basketball. They made some tough threes. Again, like always, there’s a bank three that makes it at the shot clock. That’s what happens.”

Despite Senior Night loss, Calipari pleased with the fight

Although he certainly would have preferred his team to come out on top, Calipari left the Vanderbilt game still speaking positively about his team.

He was inspired by the way his team fought in the game.

“I’m proud that these guys fought because the game got away and then all the sudden we had to fight like heck to give ourselves a chance, and we did,” Calipari said.

Kentucky will look to end its regular season on a winning note on Saturday when it takes on Arkansas on the road in a game that tips off at 2 p.m. ET on CBS.