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The Kentucky Wildcats have put themselves in a tough spot before the calendar even turns to January.
Already having two losses to unranked teams who don’t even look like NCAA Tournament teams, Kentucky may very well enter 2020 with four losses and out of the top 25, being that their next two games are against top-five Ohio State and Louisville teams.
Sure, we knew this team would have growing pains, but no one expected them to be this bad. Frankly, this has looked like a Kentucky team that will struggle to even make the NCAA Tournament.
Thankfully, the season is still young, and we’ve seen plenty of John Calipari’s teams make major strides as the regular season has progressed.
Speaking of Calipari, he issued a message on Twitter today following a hard-fought loss to Utah in Las Vegas:
Losing stinks and we are still trying to figure this out, but I like the fact that we had a will to win at the end. For the other 30 minutes, they were the aggressor and they were the fighters. We were not.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) December 19, 2019
These guys need each other. We need everybody with extreme energy and effort and doing what they do for this team. We have as much upside as any team. Now we’re going to have go chase it. I believe in this team. I’ll say it again: NEXT!!!
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) December 19, 2019
Kentucky did nearly win the game after trailing by 18, but they just couldn’t make enough plays in the end to pull out the win. Perhaps they can use that second-half rally to gain some confidence heading into Saturday’s matchup with Ohio State. The Wildcats will need a great 40 minutes just to keep it within striking distance.