Calipari still believes UK can get NCAA bid without winning SEC tourney
Another loss with victory oh so close dropped Kentucky’s record to 5-10. That prompted Olivier Sarr to say after Tuesday night’s 70-59 loss at Alabama, “Our record, it’s hard to look at.”
But does that record make receiving an NCAA Tournament bid an impossibility?
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi ranked Kentucky at No. 88 in the assessment of the 2021 NCAA Tournament field he updated Wednesday. That’s 20 spots away from the cut line.
“I’m not willing to write Kentucky’s obituary unless the Wildcats lose on Saturday . . . to Texas,” Lunardi wrote on the ESPN website. “If that game were to somehow fall into the win column, a path remains — however narrow — for Kentucky to receive positive at-large consideration. It’s a high-level, non-conference win the Cats simply must have.”
ESPN college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla said that Texas played without three of its regulars in Tuesday night’s loss to Oklahoma. Texas was “a shell of itself,” thus possibly limiting the value a Kentucky victory.
“I think a win over Texas would still look good on a resume,” Fraschilla said before adding, “unless the (selection) committee sitting in Indianapolis in the second week of March says, hold on a second.
“If you check with my friends in the desert, at the casinos, it wouldn’t surprise me if Kentucky is the favorite (to beat Texas).”
Kentucky’s 5-10 record includes six losses in eight games against opponents ranked or receiving votes in The Associated Press Top 25 poll at the time. UK Coach John Calipari was asked if he might rethink his well-documented dislike of conference tournaments if winning the Southeastern Conference Tournament could be the only way for UK to receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
With sarcasm drenching his words, Calipari said, “You know I love conference tournaments. It’s one of my favorite times of the year. So, I will be very disappointed if we’re not playing in the conference tournament.”
That sarcasm was in order, Calipari said, because he doesn’t think Kentucky’s postseason hopes are dependent on winning the SEC Tournament.
“We’ve got all kinds of games left,” he said in a serious tone. “We’re going to have six or seven ranked teams. … Terrence (Clarke) comes back, and all of a sudden we’re a different team.”
Challenges ahead
The game at Alabama began a challenging two-week period for Kentucky. The four opponents in that span are all ranked in The Associated Press Top 25 this week. In chronological order, it’s No. 9 Alabama, No. 5 Texas, No. 12 Missouri and No. 18 Tennessee.
The four were also in the top 25 of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) going into Tuesday’s games: No. 9 Alabama, No. 10 Texas, No. 12 Tennessee and No. 23 Missouri.
The quartet had a combined record against Quad 1 opponents of 15-6, a record of 10-3 against Quad 2 opponents, 9-1 against Quad 3 opponents and 10-0 against Quad 4 opponents. That added up to a collective record of 44-10.
The 59 points at Alabama equaled the second-lowest point total for Kentucky this season.
Kentucky’s challenge to score figures to intensify. The four opponents ranked in the top 60 nationally in opponents’ shooting accuracy: Alabama No. 60, Texas No. 20, Missouri No. 38 and Tennessee No. 45.
‘Keep positive’
Sarr offered advice on how the UK team can persevere.
“You’ve got to keep positive, even though it’s hard,” he said. “Keep it positive and learn from the negative. And move on.”
When asked about Kentucky’s chances of receiving an NCAA Tournament bid, Sarr said, “We’re just trying to think of the next game.”
‘Best shooter’
John Petty came into Tuesday night’s game as Alabama’s career leader in three-point baskets. He’d made 273, an average of 2.4 per game in his four-season career. He’d averaged 6.2 three-point attempts.
Those per-game averages had increased this season to 2.8 three-point baskets and 6.6 three-point shots going into Tuesday’s game.
“It doesn’t matter what threes Petty gets,” Alabama Coach Nate Oats said Monday. “I think they’re going in. Petty is one of the best shooters, he might be the best shooter I’ve ever coached.”
Petty, who made four three-pointers and scored 23 points in Rupp Arena, struggled in the rematch. He made one of three three-point shots and scored 10 points.
Awards update
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced its 10 finalists for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award. UK’s Terrence Clarke, who missed an eighth straight game because of a leg injury, was on the preseason list of 20 players. He did not make the updated list of 10.
The only SEC player on the updated list is freshman Cameron Thomas of LSU.
On Monday, the 10 finalists for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award were announced. No SEC player made the list. Carlik Jones of Louisville did make the list.
Past winners of the Cousy Award include Tyler Ulis of Kentucky in 2016.
Past winners of the West Award include Malik Monk of Kentucky in 2017.
Fan voting for the awards will begin at 1 p.m. EST Friday at hoophallawards.com.
Precedents
Kentucky being the only unranked team in a game against Alabama was unusual, but not unprecedented.
It happened 10 times previously. UK’s 6-4 record in those previous games included victories over Alabama teams ranked No. 9 on Feb. 7, 1987 (70-69) and Jan. 29, 1973 (95-93). Both those games were played at Alabama.
The last time before Tuesday an unranked Kentucky team played a ranked Alabama team was Jan. 23, 2001. No. 18 Alabama beat visiting UK 70-60.
Etc.
▪ UK’s record when scoring 76 or more points remained 5-0. The record when scoring 65 or fewer points slipped to 0-10.
▪ Alabama was one of five teams ranked in the top 15 in both offensive and defensive efficiency by Ken Pomeroy. He rated the Tide 13th on offense and 14th on defense. The other four are Gonzaga (2/11), Baylor (3/1), Michigan (7/5) and Texas (15/8).
Next game
No. 5 Texas at Kentucky
What: SEC/Big 12 Challenge
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
TV: ESPN
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: Kentucky 5-10 (4-4 SEC),Texas (11-3, 5-2 Big 12)
Series: Kentucky leads 2-0.
Last meeting: Kentucky won 63-51 on Dec. 5, 2014, in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge in Rupp Arena.
This story was originally published January 26, 2021 at 11:59 PM.
