A look back on the 2021-2022 UK year: March, April, and May

Greetings, BBN!

As we conclude our tour of the highlights from each month across UK sports and recap the greatest moments we get into the part where the men’s basketball team, uh, lost to Saint Peters and their season abruptly ended before they could do anything in the NCAA Tournament...again. So...not many highlights from Cal’s ‘Cats. But several other notable results came in the other sports, so it wasn’t all dull.

Let’s dive in!

3/1: UK men’s basketball beats Ole Miss to seal 18-0 record in Rupp

Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images

One of the most impressive achievements Kentucky did last season was playing all eighteen home games without letting a single team slip by them. Granted, not a single major conference team came to Rupp during the nonconference portion of the schedule, but they did have to get through all nine of the SEC games unscathed, including this final one on March 1st. Really made the season fun for season ticket holders.

3/6: UK women’s basketball wins SEC Tournament

Photo by Matthew Maxey/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

In one of the most stunning upsets of the year, the UK women’s basketball team went from struggling mightily in SEC play to running through the SEC Tournament all the way to the title game and defeating #1 South Carolina with a game-winning three-pointer in the final seconds. It’s one thing when you hoist the SEC Tournament trophy after being the best team all year long. It’s another when you go on a miracle-run and win a title no one else saw coming. What a win!

5/6 UK baseball takes series against mighty #1 Tennessee

The Tennessee Volunteers came into Kentucky Proud Park on May 5th with a record of 41-4 before their only series of the season with the middling Kentucky Wildcats, who had lost almost all their SEC series and were just 24-20 on the year. Then UK took two of three, winning on the 5th and the 6th to come just a few runs away from a sweep on the 7th! How did they do it?!?! No team had won a series against Tennessee all season, and Kentucky decided that this SEC series was going to be the one where they were going to win some baseball...against the team that was 41-4. That’s one of the nutty things about baseball that makes it different from all other sports—the best team is never invulnerable to a loss—even a series loss—now and then. What a weekend for UK, who desperately needed this one for their NCAA Tournament hopes that now have some life to them.

Other Memorable Moments:

• 3/4: UK baseball wins series against Top-25 TCU
• 3/27: UK baseball wins series against Top-25 Georgia