Where does Kentucky’s loss to Alabama rank among worst of Calipari’s time as coach?
READ MORE
Game day: No. 7 Alabama 78, Kentucky 52
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Expand All
Saturday was a significant low point in the John Calipari era for Kentucky men’s basketball.
The Wildcats were thoroughly defeated 78-52 at No. 7 Alabama.
The loss wasn’t just a setback within the context of the 2022-23 season — which is fast slipping out of control for Kentucky — it was also a defeat that ranks among the worst in recent Wildcat history.
Here’s a look at where Saturday’s 26-point loss stacks up among the worst losses of the Calipari era, and what the Cats ended up accomplishing during those seasons.
Duke (2018)
The Wildcats began the 2018-19 season with what is still the worst loss of Calipari’s time as head coach of the Wildcats.
Duke blasted Kentucky by 34 points, 118-84, in the Champions Classic in Indianapolis.
The Wildcats also suffered another heavy defeat later that season, when Calipari’s team lost by 19 at Tennessee in March 2019.
But despite these lopsided defeats, UK finished the season with a very respectable 37-7 overall record, including a 15-3 mark in SEC play, and eventually reached the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight.
The PJ Washington, Tyler Herro and Keldon Johnson-led Wildcats were the most recent UK team to win a game in the NCAA Tournament, nearly four years ago.
Tennessee (2013)
While Saturday was a chastening experience for Wildcats fans, it still wasn’t UK’s worst loss in SEC play under John Calipari.
That distinction belongs to a 30-point loss at Tennessee in February 2013.
This game was UK’s first after star freshman Nerlens Noel tore his ACL, an injury that ended his college career.
The 2012-13 season featured a number of double-digit defeats for the Cats, including by 17 at Florida, by 14 at Notre Dame and an ultra-rare double-digit home loss (by 12) to Texas A&M.
The season ended for Kentucky with further ignominy in the postseason: Kentucky lost by 16 points to Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament, before then losing to Robert Morris (a game which 1-seed Kentucky played on the road) in the first round of the NIT.
Alabama (2023)
Saturday will likely serve as a defining moment in the 2022-23 Kentucky men’s basketball season, one way or the other.
The Cats shot 25% from three-point range and only had two players — Antonio Reeves and Sahvir Wheeler — score more than four points.
Reigning national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe had a plus/minus of -25 and struggled mightily in ball-screen and pick-and-roll defense.
This was UK’s largest margin of defeat to Alabama in history.
Entering the game, projections on BracketMatrix.com — a composite of dozens of online Bracketology predictions — had Kentucky as a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
And while Alabama head coach Nate Oats said postgame that he thought UK was an NCAA Tournament team that would find a way to sort through its issues, the Wildcats’ NCAA Tournament résumé is currently paper-thin.
Florida (2017 and 2014)
Kentucky has suffered a significant number of losses to Florida during the Calipari era, including a pair of notable defeats in Gainesville.
The Wildcats lost by 22 points at Florida in 2017, but rebounded to reach the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight later that season.
Three years earlier, Cal’s Cats suffered a 21-point loss at Florida in March 2014. But again, despite the big loss, the Wildcats found meaningful success in March, as the No. 8 seed Wildcats reached the NCAA Tournament title game.
Alabama (2021)
Saturday’s defeat was Kentucky’s worst loss to Alabama.
The game that previously held that title came in January 2021, when Alabama came into Rupp Arena and ran Kentucky off the court by a 20-point margin.
The 2020-21 season is one that most Wildcats fans would rather erase from memory.
UK went 9-16 overall and also had a 17-point loss earlier in the season to Georgia Tech in Atlanta.
Kentucky lost in its first game in the SEC Tournament and didn’t participate in further postseason play.
This story was originally published January 7, 2023 at 4:32 PM.
