Inside Kentucky's Dejected Locker Room, Portraying a Season Ended With Disappointment
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GREENSBORO, N.C. — Never has silence spoken louder than it did inside the Kentucky locker room on early Sunday evening, just minutes following the Wildcats' 75-69 loss to Kansas State in the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament.
Oscar Tshiebwe, the two-time consensus All-American and beacon of light that found a loving home in Lexington, sat facing his locker as a pool of reporters filled up the tiny room that he and his dejected teammates resided in.
There he and Lance Ware rested with a blank gaze. Tshiebwe occasionally twiddled his fingers, while Ware sat stoic to his right with a towel over his head. The rustling of cameras being adjusted and the random clearing of the throat would've been good enough to get the attention of a man any other day — and maybe it did on Sunday — but neither towering individual gave it any mind.
Photo by Scott Utterback / Courier Journal
Over on the other side of the locker room sat CJ Fredrick, also draped by a bright-white towel. Media filed over to the shooting guard, who's always been great for answering a question or two over the course of the season. The answers weren't as easy to come by this time, though.
Tears flooded the eyes of the Cincinnati native, who bit the towel as he reflected on not the only the gut-wrenching loss he had just suffered, but also the tumultuous ride he's been on throughout his college career, and how it now may be over.
"It's been a long five years," he said. "It's been an unbelievable ride for me ... I truly am grateful for the experiences that I've had and I love the guys in this locker room."
Photo via Scott Utterback / Courier Journal
On Fredrick's right was Jacob Toppin, who sat regretful of his two-point, four-rebound outing, but much more prideful in the ride that he took with his brothers that unfortunately came to an end.
"We're gonna use the things that we've learned this year. Not just in basketball, we're gonna use it in life. All you can ask for is experiences. How does it make you better as a person? I feel like everyone in this locker room has gotten better as a person, has gotten stronger mentally, physically, spiritually, everyone's gotten better. That's really all you can ask for in life."
Photo via Scott Utterback / Courier Journal
Camped out in the middle was Antonio Reeves, who had one of the worst shooting performances of his career in the loss. He made just one of his 15 shot attempts, many of which had the appearance of being halfway down the basket before rattling back out.
Reeves was planted as calmly as ever, taking the time to think about and answer every question that was sent his way, just the same way he did two nights earlier, after scoring 22 points in UK's win over Providence in the same building.
There was no frustration seeping through Reeves' words, either. "I think it was one of those games," he said. "I've never went so bad from three this whole season. And it was it was kind of a bad time to do that."
Photo via Scott Utterback / Courier Journal
Eventually, freshman big man Ugonna Onyenso walked over to Tshiebwe. He put his arm on the shoulder of Tshiebwe and talked to the man he's labeled his "big brother." After a few consoling moments, Onyenso got Tshiebwe to make the desolate spin of the chair to speak with the heap of reporters.
Tshiebwe digested questions, but frankly didn't know what to say.
"I'm sorry to the (Big Blue Nation), because I came here, my dream was to do something great," he said. "Two years in a row, it did not happen."
As time went on, tears turned to sniffles, voice levels were raised, questions were more thoroughly answered. But those first few minutes told the story of the season for a group of players who had so much to overcome from the beginning of the campaign to the end.
Tshiebwe opted to come back for a second season at Kentucky to chase a national title. He had already won all the accolades last year, but needed to get the taste of that Saint Peter's loss out of his mouth.
The win over Providence likely won't be enough to fully quench the thirst of the reigning National Player of the Year, but that's as far as he got.
Fredrick tore his hamstring before playing a single game last season. He returned to finally showcase his fierce sharpshooting ability, but a dislocated finger and cracked ribs continuously kept him from full health, making life on and off the court harder when he wasn't able to contribute the way he knew he could.
Reeves was hotter than the sun just 48 hours prior to an unfortunate performance that will now live larger in the heads of some than the many lights-out showings he put on from November to March beforehand.
Kentucky never fully found its footing. It struggled to put together two complete halves of basketball every time it took the court. Injuries left it shorthanded far too often, while team chemistry took far too long to build up.
Sunday's loss to Kansas State was a microcosm of all the issues that had led to talks of coach John Calipari leaving for Texas and the Cats potentially not even making the NCAA Tournament in the first place.
"You don't have to make them all. You just can't miss them all," Calipari said postgame.
Kentucky missed them all a lot this season. It happened one final time in the second half on Sunday, leading to a somber end to a topsy-turvy season.
More on the loss to Kansas State HERE.
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