Kentucky Falls to Kansas State in Sweet 16
ATLANTA – The fight was there. So was the effort. Even the opportunities Kentucky needed to win presented themselves.
The Wildcats just weren’t quite able to pull it off.
“I’m proud of my team,” John Calipari said. “Had our chance to win, didn’t play particularly well for us, but still had a chance to win.”
Things started ugly for fifth-seeded UK on Thursday at Philips Arena, with No. 9 seed Kansas State jumping out to a 13-1 lead on the strength of physical defense and accurate 3-point shooting. Kentucky would battle back and even grab the lead with 92 seconds left, but it wasn’t enough. Kansas State (25-11) handed UK (26-11) a 61-58 loss and ended the Cats’ season.
“This is going to be a tough one for a long time,” Hamidou Diallo said. “This one I’ll remember for the rest of my life. Just when we had something special going—we were really bonding, we were really clicking, we were really playing well. Not just that. The season is over. Just heartbreak.”
Heartbreak was nearly averted on each of UK’s final two possessions.
On the first, down two after Barry Brown’s go-ahead layup, UK had a play set up for Kevin Knox. It was foiled and Quade Green hoisted a 3 that fell short. After Kansas State’s Amaad Wainright made one of two free throws to extend the lead to three, UK called timeout and set up a play for Wenyen Gabriel – he of the 14-of-21 3-point shooting in the postseason coming into Thursday’s game.
“We were looking for Wenyen at the top of the key,” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It was a double-pin set at the free-throw line and he was going to pop out and shoot it, but it took too long to develop and by the time it was there, there was no time left.”
Gilgeous-Alexander – who had 15 points and five assists, but committed five turnovers and shot 2 of 10 from the field – had to force up a 3 from the right wing. It glanced off the backboard and appeared for a moment it may bank in, but instead it hit the front of the rim and came out.
Both Green and Gilgeous-Alexander are surely ruing their late 3-point tries, but no one was harder on himself than PJ Washington. Washington couldn’t shake the fact that he made just 8-of-20 free throws in the game.
“If I make the free throws, we win the game,” Washington said. “So that really says it all right there.”
Washington’s teammates aren’t so sure about that saying it all. Not after Washington carried on his team on his back in playing all 40 minutes and tallying 18 points, 15 rebounds and three steals.
“I’m sure that’s weighing on him, but right now there’s not too much you can say,” Gabriel said. “Just keep your head high. We had a great year together. We love each other forever. He played a great game and we would have never been in there without him.”
Emotions were raw and worn on players’ faces in the postgame locker room, both in good feelings about the togetherness of this young team and bitter disappointment that its development has come to a premature end.
“That’s just the toughest thing, to see us lose here tonight, when we have times in the season that you feel like you don’t belong here and then you work so hard,” Diallo said. “You put in so much work and you work back up to build your confidence and then come out and you have great preparation. You’re locked in and just lose a tough game like that. It’s just shocking, to be honest, and I’m still a little bit overwhelmed.”
UK has suffered tough losses before, including ones that came down to the final possession, but this one was a little different, and not just because it brought the season to a screeching halt. The Wildcats, you see, would not have been able to fight back in a game such as this a mere five weeks ago, but they learned how to.
“We just really were together every single day, every single moment, ups and downs,” Gabriel said. “It’s really like we were family. Just the heart that we learned throughout the season, because at the beginning of the year we didn’t have that. That’s just something that we’ll never forget about this season.”
The Cats did their learning through plenty of hardship, namely four straight losses in February that made the prospect of a seventh Sweet 16 trip under Coach Cal seem highly unlikely. Having now suffered the toughest loss of them all, UK maturely intends to learn more.
“I think this isn’t going to do anything but improve all of us,” Sacha Killeya-Jones said. “We’re all going to learn from this. We’re all going to take what we didn’t do well and improve on it. None of us are going to let anything like this drag us down or discourage us from the path that we’re all on as young men, as brothers, as a team, as students. We’re going to learn from this and we’re going to get better.”
Now, where that improvement will next show itself on the court for each player becomes a logical question. It’s just not one anyone is yet prepared to answer considering the circumstances.
“We’re just trying to focus on this season, get back to school, get some good grades, focus on my teammates,” Knox said. “I’ll sit down with my parents and I’ll make a time if I’m going to come back or if I’m going to leave. But right now I’m just focused on school, just focused on the season.”
That might be painful because of the way the season ended, but the Cats will gladly trade a little hurt for all they gained.
“This team just showed a ton of heart all year,” Gabriel said. “Just the way we battled through ups and downs and how we came together and really matured throughout the season. We all got better. It’s just sad to see it end right here.”
