John Calipari sends message to Kentucky fans after NCAA Tournament disappointment

John Calipari and the No. 2 seed Kentucky Wildcats were knocked off in historic fashion on Thursday, entering the game against the No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s Peacocks as 18-point favorites, only to lose by an 85-79 final in overtime.

With the loss, Calipari’s NCAA Tournament streak continues at Kentucky. After failing to make the NCAA Tournament a year ago, and the previous tournament getting cancelled, the Kentucky Wildcats have now not won a March Madness game since the 2018-19 season. Despite this alarming trend, though, Calipari sent a heartfelt message to Big Blue Nation after the loss, expressing his disappointment in the way the season came crashing down.

“I’m disappointed for our fans. They were shell shocked like we were. We’ve got the greatest fans — we hate letting them down,” Calipari said. “I do as a coach, and I know these players do. This was really disappointing. Devastating.”

The game came on the heels of Kentucky’s 69-62 loss to Tennessee in the SEC Tournament semifinals. Kentucky fans — and frankly, the rest of the country — figured that the Wildcats would rebound from what was one of the worst shooting performances in recent memory against Kentucky. Instead, what ensued for Calipari and the Wildcats was just a bit of deja vu: Kentucky shot 4-of-15 from the arc as a team, and TyTy Washington, Sahvir Wheeler and Kellan Grady combined for 3-for-11 from three-point range, an abnysmal showing from a team that could’ve very well used those threes down the stretch.

It wasn’t just the three-point shooting that doomed Calipari down the stretch. Kentucky struggled mightily all night from the free-throw stripe, despite an abundance of opportunities. Saint Peter’s finished the game with five players having three or more fouls; while the Peacocks went to the free-throw line just 21 times, making 18 attempts, Kentucky went to the stripe 35 times as a team. But the result — a 25-of-35 performance from the line — was enough to bury the Wildcats and end their season in abrupt, shocking fashion.

“It was the whole game. It wasn’t just then, it was the whole game. I took guys out because they wouldn’t shoot the ball. I did that two or three times,” Calipari said, when asked if the nerves played a factory in Kentucky’s loss. “I wish I had an answer. Hindsight, you can play that game all you want. Give Saint Peter’s credit. … Hindsight when you’re coaching, could’ve done this, should’ve done that.”