John Calipari said after his Kentucky Wildcats lost to Kansas State in the Sweet 16 on Thursday that the inexperience of his young team showed through during the game.
Calipari’s Kentucky squad lost 61-58 in a game where fouls became the story. Kentucky was sent to the line 37 times and made just 23 of their attempts. They were tied in the final minute at 58 but came up short, and Calipari said afterwards that the youth of the team was an issue.
“But again, there were plays that you could see late that just inexperience came through a little bit,” Calipari told CBS. “But give Kansas State credit. They played hard, they played physical, they played great defense. They shot 35 percent and won a Sweet 16 game. That says a lot about their program.”
Kentucky did not have one senior on the team and featured eight freshmen, four sophomores and two juniors.
Despite pointing out the inexperience, Calipari credited Kansas State on the win and took responsibility for the late-game play.
“This is on me, that last play.”
Though Calipari took a timeout to set up his team for their last possession, he did not call a timeout on the previous possession with the team down two after Barry Brown’s layup put Kansas State up 60-58. In hindsight, he would have called the timeout there to set up his team.
