Kentucky Basketball: Win at West Virginia was a historic comeback and potential turning point

There’s no easy way to put it: Kentucky’s start to this season has been one of the most disappointing in the John Calipari.

Between all of the losses Kentucky has taken on the court and in recruiting, this just hadn’t been a good season leading up to the Cats’ matchup with West Virginia.

And it looked like more of the same for the first 23 minutes, as West Virginia took command and held a 17-point lead in the second half. The lowest point of the season had been reached.

Then, the season hit a turning point.

Slowly but methodically, the Cats battled back and chipped away at what seemed like an insurmountable lead against a veteran Mountaineers squad ranked in the top 10 of every major poll.

It became a war in the second half, but it was one the Cats would come out of victorious. Thanks to 34 points by Kevin Knox and a 49-34 rebounding edge, Kentucky came out of Morgantown with an 83-76 triumph.

The win also turned out to be one of the biggest comebacks in program history:

Losing two straight games to unranked teams last week, along with Zion Williamson spurning Kentucky for Duke, this season was reaching a low that we’ve rarely seen in the Calipari era.

It felt like the season was slipping away, possibly enough that the Cats might actually have to sweat out Selection Sunday.

And with this game being in the midst of a brutal stretch of games, there was very little optimism surrounding this team. With the state of Kentucky Basketball as it was coming into Saturday, this was exactly the kind of pick-me-up this fanbase, team, and program needed.

It also provided something that hadn’t felt present much this season: Hope. Now, this team has hope going into a difficult stretch that includes games at Texas A&M, against No. 21 Tennessee, at No. 19 Auburn, at Missouri and at Arkansas.

Leave it to Calipari to find a way to get that, just when he needed it most.