‘We’re going to be fine.’ Sestina offers perspective on Kentucky’s loss.
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An out-of-the-blue defeat: Evansville 67, No. 1 Kentucky 64
Read all of the Herald-Leader’s coverage on Kentucky.com of the Wildcats’ unexpected defeat in Rupp Arena at the hands of former UK player Walter McCarty and his Evansville Purple Aces on Tuesday night.
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Nate Sestina played in 100 games for Bucknell before moving to Kentucky this season as a graduate transfer. Surely, he’s seen about everything basketball can offer. So he could put perspective on UK’s stunning 67-64 loss to Evansville on Tuesday.
In his freshman season of 2015-16, Bucknell won the Patriot League with a 14-4 record. The Bison played their first game of the conference tournament at home against eighth-seeded Holy Cross.
Bucknell had won the teams’ regular-season games by scores of 98-71 and 77-52.
“Personally, I didn’t think they had any business being in the same gym,” Sestina said. “And they ended up beating us.”
Holy Cross defeated Bucknell 77-72 in two overtimes.
“I was hurt,” Sestina said. But he said he learned that life goes on. Defeats — even painful ones — can teach lessons, he said.
Sestina pointed out that Bucknell won the Patriot League’s bid to the NCAA Tournament the next two years, losing competitive first-round games to West Virginia (86-80 in 2017) and Michigan State (82-78 in 2018).
“It’s OK,” Sestina said, sounding like he was offering fatherly reassurance after Kentucky lost to Evansville. “It’s Nov. 12. We’re going to be fine.
“We have a very, very talented team. We have a bunch of guys who are willing to get critiqued and willing to make adjustments and willing to do whatever it takes to win.”
Of course, UK Coach John Calipari will do the critiquing.
Immanuel Quickley also spoke of an ultimate good coming from a stunning game that evoked memories of such memorable college basketball upsets as NAIA school Chaminade beating No. 1 Virginia in 1982 and Maryland-Baltimore County beating Virginia in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
“All of Coach Cal’s teams get better by the end of the year,” Quickley said of John Calipari’s track record as UK coach. “You can’t weigh on this too much.”
Rebound laments
Calipari lamented two defensive rebounds that were not secured inside the final three minutes. With UK down 61-58, Evansville cashed in a second-chance opportunity when K.J. Riley made two free throws. There was 2:21 left.
Then with UK down 63-60, Riley’s put-back restored a five-point Evansville lead with 1:39 left.
“You got to go get balls,” Calipari said. “And literally, we couldn’t. … We worked for a month, maybe longer on toughness because I knew that would be a key. And we reverted today.”
Later in the postgame news conference, Calipari returned to the lost rebounds.
“I was really disappointed in the last two offensive rebounds (by Evansville) because we had a chance to win the game,” the UK coach said. “… If you look, the guards took off. They didn’t even go in there to rebound. And our ‘bigs’ were running under the rim instead of checking out and creating space.”
Hagans not himself
Ashton Hagans did not score until making a free throw with 3:48 left. His only other score was a driving layup with 2:09 left.
Overall, Hagans made one of eight shots and committed four turnovers.
“That wasn’t Ashton today,” Calipari said. “That wasn’t the Ashton that I know.”
Hagans is playing despite leg soreness, Calipari said.
No. 1
Kentucky’s record as a No. 1-ranked team in John Calipari’s 11 seasons as coach fell to 69-8. That’s a winning percentage of .896.
Only Adolph Rupp had more victories as coach of No. 1-ranked Kentucky teams. His record was 112-15 (.882 winning percentage).
Calipari’s overall record as a coach of a No. 1-ranked team fell to 110-13. Among active coaches, only Mike Krzyzewski of Duke has more victories (216) with a No. 1-ranked team.
Versus No. 1
Evansville went into the game with an 0-2 record against No. 1-ranked teams. The Aces had lost 91-73 at No. 1 North Carolina on Dec. 18, 2008, and 105-94 at No. 1 DePaul on Feb. 26, 1980.
Overall against ranked teams, Evansville’s record improved to 17-55.
‘Mardi Gras Miracle’
Being asked about UK’s so-called “Mardi Gras Miracle” victory at LSU in 1994 was nothing new for Evansville Coach Walter McCarty. McCarty, who made the go-ahead shot in UK’s rally from 31 points down in the second half, said the game played a quarter-century ago still comes up in conversation.
“All the time,” he said last week. “All the time. There’s a lot of Kentucky fans here in Evansville. There’s not a week that goes by that that’s not mentioned or brought up to me.”
‘At the top’
When asked how Tuesday’s victory ranked compared to his triumphs as a UK player, McCarty said, “This is at the top. To be able to come back home and play against the No. 1 team in the country and be able to perform the way we did, I don’t know if anything else matches this other than winning a national championship.”
Etc.
UK was seeking a 53rd straight victory at home against an unranked non-conference opponent.
The last such team to win at UK? Baylor, which won 64-55 in Rupp Arena on Dec. 1, 2012.
Next game
Utah Valley at No. 1 Kentucky
7 p.m. Monday (ESPN2)
This story was originally published November 13, 2019 at 12:17 AM.
