KSR Today: Another Sad Sunday After a Kentucky Basketball Loss

Well, well, well, here we are again. Another Sunday, another day for the BBN to cope with a Kentucky basketball loss. It’s become a familiar feeling for Wildcat fans who entered the season with dreams of ending an eight-year Final Four drought. After the latest loss, few believe the Wildcats will even hear their names called on Selection Sunday.

Kentucky was absolutely rocked by Arkansas in the second half of Tuesday night’s loss, allowing the Razorbacks to shoot 72% from the floor over the final 20 minutes. John Calipari’s team still looked shell-shocked when they slept-walk through a disastrous performance in Athens.

Georgia scored 42 points in the first half to take a 10-point lead at intermission. Things were looking ugly, but the Cats showed a little fight by starting the second half with some fire under their rear ends. Kentucky outscored Georgia 15-5 over the opening six minutes to tie the ball game. Kentucky had all the momentum and appeared poised to run away with the game, but it wasn’t meant to be.

Chris Livingston missed an open three as the shot clock expired. Instead of potentially tying the game, Georgia sunk a three on the following possession to take a 6-point lead and the game slipped away from the Wildcats, ultimately falling 75-68 to Mike White’s Dawgs.

On paper, the loss isn’t so bad. After all, that was just a Quad 2 loss, and as John Calipari pointed out, Kentucky still has four more Quad 1 opportunities. But the significance of Saturday’s defeat at Georgia means so much more for a variety of reasons.

Really, Georgia?

Kentucky just doesn’t lose to Georgia. After all, they are a “football school” that Calipari was 21-3 against entering Saturday’s game. One of those losses was a season ago. Now Georgia has back-to-back wins over the Cats at Stegeman for the first time in more than 30 years.

It’s one thing to lose to Arkansas at home. It’s another thing to get absolutely dominated down the stretch. If that wasn’t bad enough, whatever ego that BBN had left was sucked up by the loss at Georgia. Kentucky needed a get-right win in the worst way possible. Instead, it gave everyone a reason to doubt the Cats will hear their name called on Selection Sunday.

Kentucky Now Among First Four Out

The Wildcats started the day among the Last Four In and finished it with the First Four Out, according to Joe Lunardi. That is the present situation. Looking ahead, Saturday’s game did not exactly inspire confidence that the Cats can turn it around over the final three weeks of the season. Ultimately, you never know which team is going to show up to each game, and I’m not just speaking metaphorically.

Non-Existent Backcourt Amid Injuries

It feels like at least one different person has been out of the lineup every other game. This weekend CJ Fredrick joined Sahvir Wheeler on the sideline and without the injured Wildcats, the backcourt did almost nothing. Antonio Reeves kept the Cats afloat, scoring 15 of his team-high 20 points in the first half. Outside of that, the Cats only got two points from Adou Thiero and five points in the final minute from Cason Wallace. Kentucky was backcourt-less and Calipari isn’t sure when they’ll get any help from Fredrick or Wheeler. “I have no idea,” he said.

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Coach Cal continued to limit his postgame remarks, this time speaking for only 4:30 minutes following the loss. Reeves and Oscar provided a little bit more to chew on, but I have a feeling this is all you’ll want to watch after the loss.

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Top 10 Matchup for Kentucky Softball

There was a slight setback on opening weekend for the Kentucky softball team and it didn’t happen on the diamond. After run-ruling St. John’s and Louisville on Friday, rain in Tampa canceled Saturday’s games against Pitt and Southern. UK will be back in action this afternoon against No. 9/6 Texas on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET.

At Least Tennessee Lost

Some folks think, ‘I don’t want Kentucky’s best win to look worse,’ but at this point, who cares? The more the Cats’ rivals lose, the better I feel. Especially when Tennessee loses at the buzzer in devastating fashion for the second time this week. What a shame, a real shame.

Tennessee just lost its second straight game on a buzzer beater 🫣 pic.twitter.com/E1BGdkUNPl

— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) February 12, 2023

Super Bowl Sunday

There’s no better way to forget about a bad day of Kentucky basketball than by drowning yourself in cold drinks and “cheat day” snacks. Wings, dips and chips, treat yourself to it all to properly enjoy Super Bowl LVII between the Philadelphia Eagles (-1.5) and the Kansas City Chiefs. Kickoff is set for approximately 6:30 pm EST on Fox. But you’ll want to tune in early to hear Chris Stapleton perform the National Anthem and stay locked in to make sure you don’t miss this year’s Kentucky football commercial.