Before Kentucky broke a six-game loss streak with a 78-73 double overtime win in Mississippi state on Saturday, Wildcats coach John Calipari said he told his staff he hoped Dontaie Allen – an in-state product that had just 19 minutes logged in. and scored seven points combined for the win – would help the team achieve a win in its first SEC matchup.
Allen answered that call, finishing with a team-high of 23 points and hitting 7-for-11 from a 3-point range in a wild game that also included Calipari’s elimination with just over nine minutes to play by the rules.
“Doing that kind of proves your point, and that’s what you should do if you get the chance,” Calipari said of Allen’s outing. “I am so happy for him. I told the staff before the game that I hope he will be great because we had to win.”
Kentucky had become entangled in the worst basketball court in nearly 100 years. It had not lost six games in a row since 1927, three years before the program hired Adolph Rupp. It was also the first time the team had suffered six consecutive losses to Calipari.
Allen, a former Mr. Basketball in Kentucky and a freshman who missed last season due to an injury said he never questioned his potential and kept working, hoping that Calipari would give him the opportunity to show off his talent.
“To be honest I don’t think it was busy because I put in the work,” Allen said. ‘I didn’t know when my chance would come. Nobody knows, so I kept my head down and just worked hard. I am grateful for the opportunity I got tonight. ‘
The game was similar to the six previous games that Kentucky had lost. Mississippi State held the lead during the matchup until Kentucky finished strong in regulation after Calipari’s ejection.
In the two overtime, Allen took big shots, including a crucial 3-pointer in the second overtime, to make the Wildcats (2-6, 1-0 SEC) win for the first time in over a month.
Calipari said he had not planned the ejection, leaving assistant Bruiser Flint on the team and was the result of a second technical foul picked up after an argument with one of the officials with his team six points behind halfway through the second half. . But he also said he hoped it would boost his players.
‘I know you’re going to say,’ Did you do this on purpose? ‘ The first? Yes, I did because two or three things had happened that would prevent us from winning if we didn’t [fix], “he said.” My second, it was like, ‘Yeah, okay.’ “
He added, “When I walked away, I said this would be a good thing or a bad thing.”
Olivier Sarr, who finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, said he expected the throwout based on the emotions Calipari showed during the game.
“For me, and I think the whole team, I think it was something we knew was going to happen, knowing that coach had a history with games like that,” said Sarr. “But for us it was more just, ‘Okay, the coach isn’t here – we have to run it.’ ”
Calipari said he hid in the locker room to watch his team celebrate after the game and “remember why I do what I do.”
He also said he is still focused on helping his team make it to the NCAA tournament. For last season, 2013-14 was the last time Kentucky had three or more non-conference losses entering conference play, when the Wildcats made a run to the Final Four after a rocky start. The Wildcats didn’t get a chance to compete for the NCAA tournament last season after three non-conference losses because the tournament was canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m just looking at football teams playing in bowl games 3-8,” he said. “We don’t know where this stuff is going.”