LEXINGTON — As the winningest program in the history of college basketball, accomplishing feats never seen before simply is part of the experience at Kentucky. The Wildcats made more history Saturday afternoon.
The unwanted kind.
For the first time since Rupp Arena opened in 1976, UK dropped a third straight home game, falling to Gonzaga, 89-85.
"I just want to tell our fans how much I appreciate what they're doing for this team — or what they're trying to do," Kentucky coach John Calipari said. "They're here. They're loud. When we needed them, they stood up. This team needs it. I just say, 'Stick with them.' And I appreciate the fans.
"You walk into this building and it's packed like it's been for three games … we just normally come out on fire. And we just haven't."
Ironically, a pair of players who, if circ*mstances had been different, might have suited up for the blue-and-white Wildcats on Saturday instead donned the Bulldogs’ navy blue: Nolan Hickman and Graham Ike.
A 6-foot-2 Seattle native, Hickman had once been a Kentucky commit, pledging in August 2020. He decommitted in April 2021. A month later, he decided to remain in “The Evergreen State,” committing to Gonzaga and joining the team’s 2021 recruiting class.
Hickman had 17 points and posted the team’s best plus-minus rating (plus-6). And in what surely was a sweet moment for him, he accounted for the final points, sinking a pair of free throws to seal the victory.Afterward, he acknowledged how poetic it was that "it came to be" he had the ball in his hands on Gonzaga's last possession.
"It was a great atmosphere, man. Great atmosphere," he said. "That's what college hoops is about: coming and doing what we do at different arenas. ... And this one? It's right up there with 'The Kennel.' It was amazing. I love crowds like that."
Gonzaga coach Mark Few said Hickman did "a great job" playing within himself.
"He made some really, really solid plays on the ball screens, and I thought that was a big key," Few said. "Those guards got a lot of our bigs those shots."
No one was a bigger recipient of that decision-making than Ike, who made 10 field goals (out of 17 attempts) for a game-high 23 points.
After the 2022-23 campaign ended, Ike entered the transfer portal following three seasons at Wyoming. Kentucky (16-7) reportedly reached out to indicate interest, but it wasn’t reciprocated, as Ike enrolled at Gonzaga instead.
On Saturday, Ike showed UK what it missed out on.
The broad-shouldered, burly forward — he’s 6-foot-9 and 240 pounds — had his way with Kentucky's interior players. Despite having three 7-footers on the roster (Aaron Bradshaw, Zvonimir Ivišić and Ugonna Onyenso), none possess Ike's bruising build.
"We knew that coming in, just having to be physical and asserting my will in the paint," Ike said, "but also just getting my guards open on ball screens, on pin downs — things like that — just to free them up. That's using my physicality on those screens as well."
He fouled out with 43.3 seconds to play. But by then, Ike had done enough to ensure the Bulldogs (18-6) made the long westward trek back to Spokane, Washington, with a victory in tow.
"We've got a good team. We didn't play great, and we had our chances but give Gonzaga credit," Calipari said. "They came in here, to that crowd, and withstood our run and made some baskets and did some stuff and stopped us."
"That crowd" walked away disappointed for the third time in 10 days. It fell to Florida in overtime Jan. 31. It lost to Tennessee three days later.
"I don't know what it was like these other two games at home," Few said, "but it couldn't have been any better than it was tonight."
That has to continue, sophom*ore guard Adou Thiero said.
"I want to thank the fans for always coming out to support us and everything, bringing the most energy. But they've got to stick with us," said Thiero, who had 15 points, five rebounds, two assists, three blocks and a steal in the four-point loss. "Stick with us. We're gonna break through. We've just got to figure everything out — figure it out in practice and then apply it to the game."
Prior to Saturday, the last time Kentucky dropped back-to-back-to-back home contests was 1966, when Hall of Famer Adolph Rupp still roamed the sideline. And the Wildcats still played at Memorial Coliseum. In December 1966, they lost to Illinois, North Carolina and Florida.
Rupp is the same coach who once led UK to the longest home winning streak in NCAA history: 129 straight from 1943 to 1955.
Few knows a thing or two about lengthy home win streaks himself: His program won 76 in a row before it ended last year, snapping the eighth-best run in men's basketball annals.
Frustrated as the Kentucky fan base might be given the recent results at Rupp, Few said he still saw "a lot" to like about the team.
"I think they're going to be fine," he said. "They've got skill. They have athleticism. I think they need to get healthy. Like I said, if they get Tre Mitchell back (from his injury), that adds that skilled 4. When you have a skilled 4 ... the schemes change dramatically. It puts you in a lot of difficult situations."
Words are nice. Especially complimentary ones. But to start stringing together positive outcomes again, Thiero said the opinions of outsiders — even someone as qualified as Few — won't suffice.
Change has to come from within.
"We've just got to rep the name on the jersey. At Kentucky, the people who played here before us, they left it all on the floor. We've got to start doing that," Thiero said. "Just because we're young, we can't think it's gonna be easy for us. Guys came in already with a target on their back. Just because of the jersey we're wearing now, we've got an even bigger target on our back, and we've got to go out every night and prove ourselves.
"It's never gonna be an easy night. Everybody's gonna bring their A-game. So we've just got to toughen up."
Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.
