No. 14 Kentucky lost a tough one to unranked Texas A&M in overtime last night, mostly due to a technical foul on freshman center Isaac Humphries with mere seconds remaining that shifted momentum in the Aggies’ favor before a Tyler Davis buzzer beater, but Wildcats coach John Calipari wasn’t as upset about the loss as one would think.
The Hall of Fame coach took to Twitter this afternoon and explained his feelings. Why wasn’t he mad? Simply put, the players put up a good fight and the loss was due to circumstances beyond their control.
Players couldn’t understand why I wasn’t mad about the loss yesterday. They’ve never seen me this way after a game like that.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) February 21, 2016
It’s really simple: I feel really good about the game because our kids fought.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) February 21, 2016
They fought and put us in a position to win and things happened out of their control. Can’t be mad at that.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) February 21, 2016
We’re getting better. Now we have to figure out, if Derek can’t play, how do we play?
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) February 21, 2016
The Derek Calipari mentions is Derek Willis, a junior forward who suffered an injury in the game last night, but it appears that the coach is opting to focus on the positives, of which there are plenty. Kentucky played a great game last night, trading baskets with Texas A&M from start to finish. The entire game kept fans on the edge of their seats.
And the game was lost just because a referee decided to give Humphries a technical foul for slamming the ball. Sure, some blame can be placed on Humphries, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that on the whole, Kentucky played a fine game and is still in first place in the SEC.
Thus, Calipari is not angry, and with good reason.
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*Featured Photo (above) credit to USA TODAY Sports