UNC Wilmington selling t-shirts commemorating win over Kentucky
As you are painfully aware, UNC Wilmington upset Kentucky in Rupp Arena on Saturday, only the Seahawks’ second win all-time against a ranked opponent. To celebrate, they’re pulling a page out of Indiana’s playbook.
On Sunday, UNC Wilmington unveiled a collection of t-shirts celebrating the 80-73 victory. For $28, fans can purchase a “Hawks on Top” or “Go Big Teal” tee with the score of the game, the date, and the Seahawks’ logo plastered atop the state of Kentucky.
“Get your piece of history!” the tweets advertising the shirts read.
You might have clicked on this post thinking I’d use it to make fun of the Seahawks. Au contraire! UNC Wilmington should be celebrating the heck out of what happened in Rupp Arena on Saturday, even if was just a regular season game. Kentucky was an 18.5-point favorite, with computer models giving the Cats an 86% (ESPN Matchup Predictor) to 94% (KenPom) chance of winning. It was a stunning upset and a cool moment for a team that was coming off a loss to East Carolina and lost to Appalachian State by 30 a few games prior. Might as well make some money off it too.
If anything, I think John Calipari should buy 15 of them to hang in his players’ lockers to remind them of their missteps on Saturday. After the game and again on his call-in show last night, Calipari lamented the mistakes his team made vs. the Seahawks, namely poor ball movement and turnovers. He made his players watch an hour of film after practice on Monday.
“The biggest thing is, you win or you learn,” Cal said. “Why didn’t we pass the ball? We had 45 possessions of no passes or one pass. Now you’ve watched this team play all year. What in the world — why?”
“Everything was like pulling teeth. The second thing was about the turnovers. Are you kidding me? Wait a minute, what was different in five days? Less than that? Because one day we didn’t even practice and it comes back to, what was the mindset going in? And were you desperate enough because they seemed to be more desperate than us? Do you understand? Every team that plays us is desperate.”
And they’ll make t-shirts to put in the seats when you come to town, and t-shirts to celebrate once you leave.
Discuss This Article
Comments have moved.
Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.
KSBoard