The 2024 SEC Tournament proved to be a historic one for Kentucky men’s basketball, marking the first time the team has lost three consecutive conference tournament games in program history.
The Wildcats entered the 2024 contest seeded No. 2 after obtaining a double-bye to begin the tournament in the quarterfinals.
On Friday, March 15, Kentucky took the court inside Bridgestone Arena to take on No. 7 Texas A&M. The two previously met earlier this season on Jan. 13 in College Station, Texas, where the Wildcats suffered their first league play loss at the hands of the Aggies in overtime 97-92.
For this go around in Nashville, Kentucky looked to achieve a different feat, but instead it left with another loss to Texas A&M with another losing score of 97-87.
Both games marked the highest scores the Aggies have put up all season.
“Whether they (Texas A&M) did things to make us play that way, they deserved that game the way they played,” head coach John Calipari said. “Again, I mean, we give up 97. How many games (are) you going to win giving up 97 points? Two guards got 72 points. You’re not going to win.”
Heading into the night, Kentucky closed out its season on a five-game win streak including notable wins over No. 13 Alabama at home and No. 4 Tennessee on the road.
The streak was one of the longest for the Cats all season, with the only one longer being a six-game streak, which also met its demise after the loss to Texas A&M.
The Aggies did not end their season on a winning streak, but they possessed one thing Kentucky did not.
After finishing the season 19-13, a spot in the NCAA Tournament was not something that the team had yet secured, but a win over the Cats would do the trick, making the Aggies desperate.
The Wildcats started the quarterfinals game slow on their feet, finding themselves in an 8-1 deficit within the first two minutes of the half that would eventually set the tone for how the rest of the game would play out.
Despite a high offensive performance from Rob Dillingham, who finished with 27 points, the freshman could not make up for Kentucky’s lack of success on defense.
The Wildcats bore 14 turnovers that the Aggies were able to profit 18 points from, while Texas A&M also won the rebound game and put up 26 second-chance points.
“A lot of that was on us, as well,” Reed Sheppard said. “We didn’t play like we’ve normally been playing. We didn’t share the ball. We got selfish and tried to make home-run plays, just try and take over the game by ourselves.”
It was a performance that Texas A&M controlled from the first whistle, with Kentucky trailing the entire time except for the mere 41 seconds it led in the first half.
If the disappointment wasn’t palpable enough, the loss didn’t only mark the third consecutive SEC tournament loss for the team, it also marked the first time UK has gone 0-1 in back-to-back years.
“Sometimes your teams don’t play well,” Calipari said. “Sometimes they do and you advance, and you win. Sometimes they don’t. Especially young teams. We didn’t do it today.”
Under the Calipari era, Kentucky has made it to the SEC Tournament finals eight times — winning six of those finals — and, during those years, it went on to win 28 NCAA Tournament games.
In the five seasons the team did not make it to the championship game, the Wildcats went on to win a total of four NCAA Tournament games.
With the figures not painting a pretty picture for the Cats’ NCAA Tournament chances, fans won’t be able to rest easy with the knowledge that the next time the Cats “don’t play well,” they won’t have another chance to make up for it.
