Injuries limited Kentucky's shot at an SEC run, marking another early exit

Kentucky couldn’t pull off the upset in the SEC Tournament’s quarterfinal in Nashville. Playing without Lamont Butler, who suffered an injury in the second round, the task was too tall for the undermanned Wildcats against the best offense in college basketball. Nate Oats even admitted that his guards took advantage of Kentucky being so thin in the backcourt.

Kentucky’s limited roster hung around with the fifth-ranked team in America for fifteen minutes in the first half, but Bama began to pull away before halftime and dominated the second. Alabama hit nine 3-pointers and scored 54 points after intermission, winning by 29 points in the end. The 29-point loss was Kentucky’s worst in the SEC Tournament, and it’s worst loss to the Crimson Tide in 160 meetings.

Though a win was unlikely given the circumstances, it doesn’t change the fact that Kentucky failed to reach the weekend of the SEC Tournament once again. The Big Blue Nation can stomach the early exit this year, Mark Pope’s first, as a No. 6 seed riddled with injuries; however, the drought still goes on for the program with 31 conference tournament trophies in its cabinet.

Kentucky’s exits since its last SEC Tournament championship

Since John Calipari’s 2017-18 team won the whole thing in St. Louis, the trips to the SEC Tournament ended shy of a shot at a championship. Including the two-game stay in 2025, Kentucky is 3-6 in SEC Tournament games, with only two wins in Nashville, the Big Blue Nation’s favorite city.

2019 SEC Tournament (Nashville, TN)

Playing as the No. 2 overall seed, the Wildcats earned a double-bye into Friday’s quarterfinal. Kentucky smoked Alabama, the No. 10 seed, but nobody expected at the time that Kentucky wouldn’t see another win in Nashville until the 2025 SEC Tournament, when Mark Pope’s Kentucky beat Oklahoma.

Tennessee won the 2019 semifinal game, 82-78.

#2 Kentucky 73, #10 Alabama 55 (Friday)

#3 Tennessee 82, #2 Kentucky 78 (Saturday)

2021 SEC Tournament (Nashville, TN)

Kentucky’s worst season in history ended with a second-round loss to Mississippi State in Nashville, marking the first of three straight winless trips to Nashville. Playing without a crowd, the Bulldogs sent Cal’s Cats home despite 23 points from Dontaie Allen, the game’s high scorer.

#9 Mississippi State 74, #8 Kentucky 73 (Thursday)

2022 SEC Tournament (Tampa, FL)

In 2022, the SEC snuck in a trip to Tampa, where Kentucky went 1-1 as the conference’s No. 3 seed. TyTy Washington scored 25 points in a win over Vandy, but Tennessee, the No. 2 seed, took down the Cats in the semifinals.

#3 Kentucky 77, #11 Vanderbilt 71 (Friday)

#2 Tennessee 69, #3 Kentucky 62 (Saturday)

2023 SEC Tournament (Nashville, TN)

After losing to Vanderbilt in Rupp Arena on Senior Night, the Commodores sent Kentucky home early from the SEC Tournament a week later, winning the Friday quarterfinal with the same script it used to play upset in Lexington. Oscar Tshiebwe had 19 points and 15 rebounds in Nashville, plus a combined 43 points from Antonio Reeves and Jacob Toppin. Still, making it to the weekend was too much to ask.

#6 Vanderbilt 80, #3 Kentucky 73 (Friday)

2024 SEC Tournament (Nashville, TN)

Playing as the tournament’s No. 2 seed last year, Kentucky was upset on Friday for a second year in a row, losing to No. 7 Texas A&M. With a talented roster that included two top-10 draft picks, the trip to Nashville felt different than past disappointments, but the result was another heartbreaker in front of a crowd of all blue.

#7 Texas A&M 97, #2 Kentucky 87 (Friday)

2025 SEC Tournament (Nashville, TN)

Kentucky broke out of its losing funk in the Music City by beating Oklahoma on Thursday of the 2025 SEC Tournament. Otega Oweh’s thrilling buzzer-beater gave BBN a night to remember forever. However, Friday wasn’t nearly as exciting because Kentucky suffered a 29-point loss, playing without some of its best players. Hopefully, next year will be a different story with a longer stay.

#6 Kentucky 85, #14 Oklahoma 84 (Thursday)

#4 Alabama 99, #6 Kentucky 70 (Friday)

At least we had Thursday’s fun

2025 was not a complete dud. We have the Oweh game-winner and lots of fun from Nashville before running into a buzzsaw in Alabama.

Let’s watch that Oweh bucket again, so we’re not leaving on a sad note.

OTEGA OWEH BEATS THE BUZZER 😱

Kentucky gets the last-second win to knock off Oklahoma 😤 pic.twitter.com/QxGFf3NC6i

— ESPN (@espn) March 14, 2025