SEC Basketball Final Grades for 2014-15 season
Kentucky Wildcats: A-
Even though Kentucky didn’t win the national championship and finish the college basketball season with an unblemished record, it’s still a season people should remember for a long time since history was still made.
This past season’s deep Wildcats team joins the 1986 Duke Blue Devils, 1987 UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, 1999 Duke Blue Devils, 2005 Illinois Fighting Illini, 2008 Memphis Tigers, 2008 Kansas Jayhawks and 2012 Kentucky Wildcats for most wins in a single season. Newly crowned Naismith Hall of Fame coach John Calipari also coached the 2008 national title runner-up Tigers, who was led by Derrick Rose and the 2012 national champion Wildcats, who was led by center Anthony Davis.
Kentucky’s non-conference schedule was only the beginning for the type of season the Wildcats would have under Calipari. Kentucky defeated Kansas, UCLA, Texas, Louisville and North Carolina by an average of 21 points. In the regular season, the Wildcats held their opponents to 54.3 points per game and were also a plus-seven (38 to 31.2) in the rebounding column.
Once the Wildcats survived their tough non-conference schedule, it was predicted Kentucky would have it easy in the Southeastern Conference. Instead, the Wildcats found themselves in one dogfight after another. Kentucky had to rally late in three road games against Florida, LSU, and Georgia to stay undefeated. All three games were decided by eight points or less.
The Wildcats road to the Final Four wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for the inside dominance of Karl-Anthony Towns, who averaged 10.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game while shooting 56.6 percent from the field. Outside of Towns, Kentucky had five other players (Aaron and Andrew Harrison, Devin Booker, Willie Cauley-Stein, Trey Lyles) to average at least eight points a game.
Cauley-Stein’s ability to guard multiple positions helped the team average 6.9 blocks per contest. Stein’s athleticism also helped him snag 6.4 rebounds per game. Kentucky won the SEC regular season and tournament championship and went into the NCAA Tournament undefeated, defeating Hampton, Cincinnati, and West Virginia on its way to the Elite 8 where the Wildcats escaped Notre Dame with the 68-66 victory.
The Harrisons were in tight tournament games as freshmen and big shots down the stretch, from the both of them, led them to the 2014 national title game against Connecticut. As sophomores, they were in another close game against Wisconsin, but couldn’t convert on three straight offensive possessions that led to shot clock violations. Outside of the Harrison twins, the lack of experience started to settle in with the platooned group.
All season long, Kentucky had faced adversity and had found ways to come out on top, but with millions of eyes watching, the Wildcats folded and collapsed at the wrong time.
The Badgers, led by Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker, ended the Wildcats’ dream season with the 71-64 victory inside Lucas Oil Stadium, home to the Indianapolis Colts. Despite falling to 38-1, this year’s Kentucky team achieved more than what a lot of programs have accomplished in the last two seasons combined. Winning 38 games are hard to come by and Calipari said once the season was finished that winning a national title was not the goal, it was getting seven or eight of his players on a NBA roster prior to the beginning of the 2015-16 season.
Both Harrisons, Cauley-Stein, Towns, Booker, Trey Lyles and Dakari Johnson have entered this year’s NBA Draft. If this was the goal from jumpstart, then ending the long ride with only one loss and a Final Four appearance isn’t so bad after all.
Next: Arkansas Razorbacks