Despite great expectations and to the dismay of many, Kentucky’s basketball season is over after a 75-69 loss to Kansas State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Kentucky’s campaign started with great promise, being looked upon as the likely team to win the SEC and ranked among the top five nationally in the Associated Press preseason poll.
There was silence inside Kentucky’s locker room at Greensboro Coliseum Sunday evening with Oscar Tshiebwe and Lance Ware facing their lockers and CJ Fredrick holding back tears in his eyes, after the sixth-seeded Wildcats’ 2022-23 campaign ended at the hands of No. 3-seed Kansas State.
It’s definitely not a good season for Kentucky basketballers with many injuries and shocking losses — to South Carolina at home and at Georgia.
Last season, the Kentucky Wildcats lost to Saint Peter’s in a 15-over-2 upset in the first round. And the UK failed to qualify for the Big Dance during the 2020-21 season. The last time Kentucky appeared in the Sweet 16 was in 2019.
Kentucky was defeated by Kansas State’s (25-9) team that was selected to finish last in the 10-team Big 12 under first-year coach Jerome Tang and exceeded all expectations to make the Sweet 16 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, where it will face Michigan State.
Markquis Nowell was performance was outstanding with game-highs in points (27) and assists (nine) to help his team fend off salvo after salvo from Kentucky. He scored 23 of those points in the second half.
Nowell had 25 points and a game-high 18 rebounds and Livingston had 11 points and seven rebounds.
Wallace had 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting, in the second half. He made all seven shots he took after halftime for 13 points while pulling down five rebounds and giving two assists.