A Loss to South Carolina Would Be Kentucky’s Worst SEC Home Defeat in Decades

BryantheIntern

Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope - Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

A loss to South Carolina would be, quite frankly, the worst conference loss in modern Kentucky Basketball history. Maybe the Gamecocks pull themselves out of the cellar of the league by the end of the season, but right now they sit at 0-9 in conference play. They have consistently seemed like the least competitive team in the league. LSU might have a say in that, but I think USC is the likely bottom-feeder in the league.

So just how bad would losing on Saturday be? Since 1992, Kentucky is 27-0 overall against the worst team in the SEC in games at Rupp. Below are each of those games with the margin of victory.

RICK PITINO

1992: South Carolina, 18 points
1993: Tennessee, 14 points
1994: Tennessee, 19 points
1997: LSU, 36 points

TUBBY SMITH

1999: South Carolina, 34 points
2000: Georgia, 6 points
2001: LSU, 23 points
2003: Vanderbilt, 62 points
2004: Arkansas, 17 points
2005: Georgia, 9 points
2006: Ole Miss, 40 points
2007: South Carolina, 6 points

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BILLY GILLISPIE

2008: Georgia, 6 points

JOHN CALIPARI

2011: LSU, 38 points
2012: South Carolina, 15 points
2013: Auburn, 10 points
2014: Mississippi St, 22 points
2015: Missouri, 49 points
2016: Missouri, 34 points
2017: LSU, 7 points
2018: Ole Miss, 18 points
2019: Vanderbilt: 9 points
2020: Vanderbilt: 9 points
2021: Vanderbilt: 3 points
2022: Georgia: 15 points
2023: LSU, 3 points
2024: Missouri, 13 points

* Did not play SEC’s worst team at Rupp in 1995, 96, 98, 02, 09, 1

Those 27 wins have come by an AVERAGE of 19.8 points. 18 of the 27 have come by double digits. One third of them have come by over 20 points. The point being, Kentucky needs to not struggle tomorrow against South Carolina. There have been good teams and bad teams at Kentucky in the last 30 years. And all of them handle their business against the worst of the league at Rupp.

Saturday should be a get-right game for Mark Pope’s squad. A chance to overmatch the league’s worst opponent, something you don’t have the chance to do much in this year’s SEC. A loss, or even a close game, would certainly continue to raise red flags on a season that seems to be wavering some.