How ex-Cat Walter McCarty, Evansville took down No. 1 Kentucky
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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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Analysis from No. 1 Kentucky’s 67-64 loss to Evansville on Tuesday night:
How the game was won
Evansville — a team that finished 11-21 a season ago — controlled tempo, made nine three-pointers and held No. 1 Kentucky to 20-of-54 shooting and scored one of the most stunning upsets in UK basketball history.
Who’s hot
1. Walter McCarty. The ex-Cats forward scored the kind of head coaching victory that can launch one’s career into the stratosphere.
Most impressive thing, McCarty’s team played from the start like it believed it could win.
2. K.J. Riley. A 6-foot-5 wing from the Bronx, N.Y., Riley went for a game-high 18 points and hit all eight of his foul shots to lead the Evansville miracle.
3. Sam Cunliffe. The transfer from Kansas got Evansville’s upset hopes rolling with 15 first-half points then clinched the win with two foul shots with six seconds left in the game.
Who’s not
1. John Calipari. The UK coach suffered the caliber of loss more associated with the ill-fated Billy Gillispie coaching era.
2. Kentucky outside shooting. The difference in the game was Evansville hitting nine of 30 treys compared to UK’s four of 17.
3. Ashton Hagans. UK point guard (1-of-8 field goals, three points, four turnovers) had a rough go.
Key number(s)
Three and one. Evansville Coach Walter McCarty, a starting foward on Kentucky’s 1996 NCAA championship team, is one of three members of Rick Pitino’s 1995-96 Wildcats who is a current NCAA Division I men’s basketball coach — Allen Edwards (Wyoming) and Mark Pope (BYU) are the other two.
With Evansville’s win, members of UK’s 1996 NCAA title team are now 1-1 coaching against Kentucky in Rupp Arena. When Pope was head coach at Utah Valley, UK beat the Wolverines 73-63 in the 2017-18 regular-season opener.
The ‘Cat-mosphere’
1. Calesta “Callie” Day performed an inspirational rendition of the national anthem.
2. The Rupp Arena crowd gave Evansville Coach and ex-Cat Walter McCarty a huge ovation during the announcement of the starting lineups.
3. There was a spirited contingent of Evansville fans in Rupp. When the Purple Aces took an early 24-16 lead, the Evansville backers made a lot of noise.
They were really loud after the game.
Up next
No. 1 Kentucky (2-1) will return to action Monday (Nov. 18) against Utah Valley (2-1). The game will tip off at 7 p.m. and be telecast by ESPN2.
This story was originally published November 12, 2019 at 9:24 PM.
