Kentucky basketball shouldn’t run John Calipari off just yet after upsetting Tennessee

Reports of John Calipari’s demise with Kentucky basketball have been greatly exaggerated. Just ask the Vols. 

Kentucky basketball isn’t supposed to have six losses in the middle of January. Heck, many Wildcats fans would say John Calipari shouldn’t have the team taking that many losses in an entire season. Yet, as the team went on the road to Knoxville on Saturday to face the No. 5-ranked Tennessee Volunteers, that was the case.

And the unrest among the fanbase was evident. Fans were ready to ship him to Austin to take the vacant Texas job. More importantly, they just wanted him out. It’s amazing what 40 minutes on the hardwood can change, though.

Kentucky went on the road and submitted its best performance to date in the 2022-23 season as they picked up their second SEC win in five tries by knocking off the fifth-ranked Vols, 63-56, behind Oscar Tshiebwe’s 15 points and 13 rebounds along with Antonio Reeves’ team-high 18 points off the bench for the Wildcats.

Kentucky basketball upsetting Tennessee should quiet the anti-John Calipari crowd

Now sitting at 11-6 on the season, Kentucky basketball is far from being all the way back. They’ll truly need to build off of this moving forward to secure their NCAA Tournament berth and to regain the trust of the fanbase.

This win, however, was a good start.

Calipari has been under fire since before this season for underdelivering based on the talent in Lexington. And that has indeed been an issue in the 2022-23 campaign. At the same time, though,  injuries have been a story that has gone overlooked. Saturday was among only a few times the Wildcats have been healthy, particularly with Jacob Toppin and Cason Wallace in the lineup, and the results showed.

Kentucky and Coach Cal have to know the job isn’t done yet in getting back on the horse. But with two straight home games against quality SEC teams in Georgia and Texas A&M before facing Vanderbilt and then hosting No. 2 Kansas on Jan. 28, the Wildcats seem to have found the mojo they needed to start winning against anyone — and to silence the Calipari critics, for now at least.

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