NCAA Basketball news: Kentucky loses again, UNC loses Armando Bacot

Tuesday night in NCAA Basketball may not have had many games overall but many of the games that were played were fairly meaningful. From a huge upset in the SEC to an All-American player suffering an injury, here are the news and (8) takeaways from the game.

1. Kentucky falls to the worst team in the SEC

With a 10-5 record and 1-2 in the SEC, the unranked Kentucky Wildcats couldn’t go any lower. Of course, they had a home game against South Carolina, who was winless in league play, and non-conference losses to East Carolina, Furman, and George Washington. It’s the perfect “get back game” for the Wildcats, who should cruise to a 20-point win.

Instead, it was the Gamecocks who came out with an early 11-point lead, one they wouldn’t give up. Kentucky would wake up and make a comeback, eventually making it a one-point game in the final seconds. But they never regained the lead, falling 71-68. Oscar Tshiebwe had 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Antonio Reeves and CJ Fredrick had 27 points combined off the bench. Cason Wallace (back) was limited to just eight minutes on the night.

It was easily the game of the year for South Carolina, led by a career-high 26 points from Meechie Johnson on 6/10 shooting from deep. Freshman GG Jackson had 16 points on 6/10 from the field, while Hayden Brown had 11. As a team, the Gamecocks went 11/20 from deep.

For a team that was directly on the bubble heading into this game, a Quad 4 loss (South Carolina was 264 in NET heading into the game) of this magnitude is going to be brutal for the Wildcats. And considering that there are rumors of a potential breakup between Coach Calipari and the program are running rampant, the timing of this loss is awful. They’ll have to regroup quickly, because Tennessee is up next.