Desperate for some UK men’s basketball optimism? Here are some reasons for hope.
Fast-break points from the deck of the U.S.S. Arizona:
21. Kentucky men’s basketball. Stands 1-3 after a demoralizing 79-62 loss Sunday to a Georgia Tech team that entered the game 0-2 with losses to Georgia State and Mercer.
20. Searching for a silver lining. If you need reason to believe this UK season can be salvaged, the history of the prior four Wildcats teams that started seasons 1-3 offers (mostly) hope.
19. 2000-01 Cats dig a hole. Tubby Smith’s fourth UK team opened with close neutral-court losses to St. John’s (62-61) and UCLA (97-92 in OT), blasted Jacksonville State 91-48 in Cincinnati, then was upset by the Crispin brothers and Penn State (73-68) in Rupp Arena.
18. 2000-01 Cats dig out of the hole. UK went on to tie Florida for the SEC regular-season title, won the SEC Tournament championship, reached the NCAA Tournament round of 16 and finished with 24 wins (24-10).
17. 1984-85 Cats dig a hole. Joe B. Hall’s final team beat Toledo (63-54) in its opener, then lost four straight — 66-56 at Purdue, 56-54 to No. 8 SMU, 81-68 at No. 11 Indiana and 71-64 at No. 14 Louisville.
16. 1984-85 Cats dig out of the hole. Sneaking into the NCAA Tournament with a 16-12 record as a No. 12 seed, the Kenny Walker-led Cats upset No. 5 seed Washington (66-58) and No. 4 UNLV (64-61) before falling in the round of 16 to No. 1 St. John’s (86-70).
15. 1973-74 Cats dig a hole. Joe B. Hall’s second UK team opened with an 81-68 win over Miami (Ohio), then lost three straight at No. 13 Kansas (71-63) and on neutral courts to No. 3 Indiana (77-68) and No. 5 North Carolina (101-84).
14. 1973-74 Cats never dig out of the hole. A smallish team with only one starter (6-9 Bob Guyette) taller than 6-foot-5, UK never recovered from the slow start and limped to a 13-13 finish.
13. 1972-73 Cats dig a hole. Hall’s first season as UK head coach began with a win at Michigan State (75-66) followed by consecutive losses to Iowa (79-66), at Indiana (64-58) and to No. 13 North Carolina (78-70) in Freedom Hall.
12. 1972-73 Cats dig out of a hole. UK rallied from its slow start and went on to win the SEC championship, reach the NCAA Tournament round of eight and finish with 20 wins (20-8).
11. The good news for the current Cats. At Kentucky, it is proven that a team that starts 1-3 can recover to win the SEC championship and multiple NCAA Tournament games.
10. The bad news for the current Cats. Even at Kentucky, it would be unprecedented for a team that started 1-3 to recover and advance to a Final Four.
9. Spark of hope I. As disjointed as UK has looked offensively through four games, it was a sign of encouragement that Kentucky had 16 assists on 22 baskets in the loss to Georgia Tech.
8. Spark of hope II. After prized freshman wings Brandon Boston (0-of-11) and Terrence Clarke (0-of-8) went oh-for-the-first-three-games from three-point range, Clarke made three of four treys and Boston hit three of seven vs. Georgia Tech.
7. College basketball players from Kentucky. Last week in this space, I pointed out that a number of men’s college hoops players from the commonwealth have gotten off to strong starts. This week, I am calling your attention to three more.
6. Carter Hendricksen. The 6-7, 217-pound junior from Lexington Christian Academy is averaging 17.3 points and 5.3 rebounds for North Florida.
5. Kenny White. The 6-7, 205-pound freshman forward from Madisonville has been a bright spot (9.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg) for Tennessee Tech Coach John Pelphrey in midst of a tough opening (0-5) to the season.
4. Curt Lewis. The 6-5, 220-pound redshirt freshman from Valley High School in Louisville has been a major plus (11 ppg, 5.3 rpg) for Eastern Kentucky as the Colonels have gotten off to a 3-1 start.
3. UK Hoops head coaching churn. Since practice started for the 2020-21 college basketball season, the Kentucky women’s basketball program has now had three people serve as head coach.
2. The coaching roll call. Matthew Mitchell retired days before the season was to start. Interim head coach Kyra Elzy was tabbed to step in. Acting head coach Niya Butts had to run the show Sunday when No. 11 Kentucky faced No. 13 Indiana because Elzy was too ill with what UK said was a non-COVID-19 medical condition to coach.
1. A signature win. The Hoosiers returned the nucleus from the team that last season pinned the only defeat on No. 1 South Carolina. So UK playing with its third head coach by the season’s fourth game only made the Wildcats’ rally from 14 points down to beat IU 72-68 more impressive.
This story was originally published December 7, 2020 at 4:49 PM.
