Kentucky implodes as Oakland pulls off massive upset in NCAA Tournament
Kentucky is now 1-4 in its last five NCAA Tournament games.
With an 80-76 loss to Oakland in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, Kentucky continues its embarrassing trend of underperforming in both the SEC and NCAA Tournaments. If the loss to St. Peters in 2022 was rock bottom at the time, Thursday's loss to Oakland may represent Kentucky falling even deeper into despair.
There's no doubt that questions have already begun to swirl about John Calipari's future in Lexington. After several consecutive frustrating seasons, Calipari doesn't seem to be in the good graces of Big Blue Nation like he once was.
Oakland was led by guard Jack Gohlke, who scored 32 points with one of the weirdest stat lines in basketball history, going 10-of-20 from three and 2-of-3 from the free-throw line in the Golden Grizzlies' victory. With the win, Oakland advances to the round of 32 for the first time in school history.
Kentucky was led in scoring by senior guard Antonio Reeves, who put up 27 points on a very efficient 11-of-18 from the field, including 5-of-9 from beyond the arc. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, Reeves' big night wasn't enough to lift Kentucky to victory.
Kentucky's recent NCAA Tournament history appears to show that the once-revered Calipari is no longer feared in the college basketball landscape. Kentucky missed the tournament altogether in 2021 before losing to Saint Peters in 2022. Last season, Kentucky advanced to the round of 32 before falling to Kansas State.
Oakland now moves on to face either Texas Tech or North Carolina State on Saturday. A time and TV network for that game is yet to be determined.
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