John Calipari experienced one of the very lowest points of his stint as the Kentucky Wildcats' head coach in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. In the first round, the Wildcats lost to the 15-seed Saint Peter's Peacocks by a score of 85-79 in overtime.
Allowing Saint Peter's to make over half of their 3-point attempts led to the biggest upset in this year's tournament, as did Daryl Banks III's amazing game. Despite a monster performance from Oscar Tschiebwe, the Wildcats, who ranked seventh in the final AP poll of the season, blew it big-time.
Although Kentucky has failed twice to qualify for March Madness under Calipari, they have never lost in the first round. Doing so to a program so much smaller than them is as devastating as it gets.
A few days after the loss, Calipari took to Twitter to address Kentucky fans, who were distraught after losing to such a small program. He discussed how hard the team had worked and that they deserved better and thanked the fans for sticking with them.
To the BBN:
I feel for our team, our fans and our staff. This team deserved something good to happen because of how they worked and what great teammates they became. Our fans deserved it too.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) March 19, 2022
In one pretty interesting remark, he said that all the blame should be shifted towards him — which is what he said after the game — and that he wished he “could have dragged them over the finish line.” Whether that was a direct shot at his team or not, it suggests that the Wildcats were not built to make a long run.
We were all ready for this year. This team didn’t disappoint and I remain proud and fond of each of these players. Please steer your disappointment and anger toward me. These kids did this for all of the BBN and I wish I could have dragged them over the finish line.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) March 19, 2022
Kentucky and Calipari will have a long offseason ahead as they look to avenge this ugly loss next season.
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