John Calipari says fans 'carried' Kentucky in Vanderbilt game

Kentucky had its final home game of the season Wednesday at Rupp Arena with a full crowd of fans against the Vanderbilt. While the Commodores pulled out an upset victory on Senior Night, Wildcats head coach John Calipari thanked the fans for their support during the day.

“Let me say this: The fans literally carried us today,” Calipari said after the game. “The fans in that building carried us and got us back into the game and gave us a chance to win. Our fans. It was another unbelievable crowd and spirited. It’s great to see the ovations all the kids.”

Vanderbilt won the game 68-66 with Tyrin Lawrence and Jordan Wright both leading the way for the Commodores. The two combined for nearly two-thirds of the team’s points as Wright scored 23 points on 8-for-12 shooting and Lawrence had 21 points on 9 of 14 from the floor.

Oscar Tshiebwe led the way for Kentucky with 21 points and 20 rebounds. But only one other player scoring in double figures for the Wildcats.

It was Antonio Reeves, who scored 14 points on 4-for-17 shooting.

John Calipari wanted Kentucky to beat Vanderbilt for the seniors

John Calipari obviously wants to win every game he plays, but he was really hoping for Kentucky to beat Vanderbilt for the seniors for their final game.

“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 other news coming out of the game was an injury update about point guard Sahvir Wheeler. Wheeler had a procedure done on his injured ankle earlier in the day and missed the Senior Day celebration.

“My guess right now, and what the doctors told me — it’s going to be a couple of weeks,” Calipari said postgame. “Or at least, that’s what they think. So, this is what we have right now.”