Former Wildcat Walter McCarty, Evansville upset No. 1 UK in Rupp

Evansville+sophomore+forward+Deandre+Williams+celebrates+at+the+end+of+the+Kentucky+vs+Evansville+basketball+game+on+Tuesday%2C+Nov.+12%2C+2019%2C+at+Rupp+Arena+in+Lexington%2C+Kentucky.+UK+lost+67-64.+Photo+by+Michael+Clubb+%7C+Staff

Evansville sophomore forward Deandre Williams celebrates at the end of the Kentucky vs Evansville basketball game on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019, at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. UK lost 67-64. Photo by Michael Clubb | Staff

He won an NCAA championship in Kentucky blue, but where does coming back as a coach and defeating his former squad rank in his list of accomplishments? 

“This is at the top,” Evansville head coach and former Wildcat Walter McCarty said. In UK’s 1996 championship season, he played a pivotal role and averaged 11.3 points per game. “To be able to come back home and play against the No. 1 team in the country and to be able to perform the way we did. I don’t know if anything else matches this other than winning a national championship.”

Now, he’s come back and led his Purple Aces to a victory that stunned the nation, defeating the freshly ranked No. 1 Wildcats 67-64 in Rupp Arena. Before the game Tuesday night, Kentucky had won 52 games in a row versus unranked opponents at home.

“We’ve got talent, we’ve got guys who can play,” McCarty said. “The good thing about all these guys is we all complement each other and they love playing together. They’re a great group.”

While the win came as a shock for most of the country, McCarty and his team knew they could come into Lexington and do what they did. University of Kansas transfer Sam Cunliffe dropped 17 points for Evansville against the Cats on 6-of-13 shooting and added six rebounds. 

“It’s amazing,” Cunliffe said. “Coming to a school like this, and you talk about doing things like this, you know making history and playing in front of these bright lights. We prepared the right way, we had our mindset in the right spot and to actually do it is surreal. I couldn’t have imagined this ever in my life.”

KJ Riley, a 6-foot-5 guard who led the Purple Aces in scoring with 18, says his team wasn’t daunted by the idea of playing the No. 1 ranked team in the country. He says the game proves that “anybody can play with anybody” if you play with confidence. 

“We work hard every day,” Riley said. “We treat every game the same, we stick to our game plan, it doesn’t matter who we play. We’re not really focused on the name, we really focus on what we have to do to win.”

Evansville hit nine threes compared to Kentucky’s four and outrebounded the Cats 38-35. UK head coach John Calipari gave props to McCarty and his team for the win, while also acknowledging his team’s weaknesses in the loss. Those weaknesses included lack of ball movement, lack of toughness and injury. 

“Coach was right, we got out-toughed,” UK’s Nate Sestina said. “I didn’t revert back to what we do in practice, standing straight up. It’s a mental thing for me, just got to be mentally tough late in the game especially when I’m tired and I wasn’t.”

McCarty thinks Kentucky is a “great team,” but believes in his guys in their ability to win big games like they did against the Cats. 

“Today at practice I told my guys, ‘today is a great day to be a Purple Ace, let’s go do it.”