LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The buzzer sounded, LSU tossed the ball in the air in an act of celebration, and by the time it landed -- or so it seemed -- Billy Gillispie was already on his way into the back of Rupp Arena, exiting nearly side by side with the officials, those three men in stripes who were booed loudly for a no-call on Jodie Meeks' final shot that could've tied the game but didn't.
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| Billy Gillispie's team needs a serious push if it's going to make it to the NCAA tournament. (Getty Images) |
Not all 24,000 of them, of course, but enough to where it was noticeable. And I couldn't help but note as I glanced at the scoreboard that we are now apparently to the point where Kentucky fans are applauding 73-70 home losses to LSU, and raise your hand if you ever thought you'd see the day.
"I think I heard somewhere that if we won, it would be the first time since 1989 that LSU has won in here," said Marcus Thornton, who had heard right. "It feels great to go down in history by getting this big win in Rupp."
Meantime, Kentucky is just going down.
The Wildcats are 19-10 overall, 8-6 in a mediocre SEC and absolutely on the bubble, probably on the wrong side. They needed this win not only to improve a sketchy body of work, but to also help alleviate the pressure on their program as a whole and coach specifically. Rather than get it, Kentucky fell apart late -- on both ends of the court, but mostly on the defensive side -- and squandered a double-digit lead, and now the Wildcats are 0-4 in games against Top 25 opponents from the Coaches poll this season, 2-10 against Top 25 opponents from the Coaches poll the past two seasons.
And really, that's the problem.
It's not just that this season isn't going as planned, it's that last season didn't go as planned either, and that there's reason to believe next season might not be any better, particularly if Patrick Patterson and Jodie Meeks enter the NBA Draft.
Kentucky fans spent Saturday looking at the visiting bench, staring at a first-year coach (Trent Johnson) who has his team running away with the SEC title despite inheriting a roster that was 6-10 in the league last season, and those fans are left to wonder why the Gillispie era through nearly two years features a 13-20 record against Top 100 RPI opponents (not to mention three losses outside the Top 100) and a second season no less frustrating than the first.
And when Kentucky fans wonder, they wonder really loudly.
On sports talk radio shows.
On message boards.
And though Gillispie would never acknowledge the mounting pressure, he wouldn't be human if he didn't feel it. Because it's there. And it's huge. And it's approaching a tipping point, because there's a very real chance Kentucky won't make the NCAA tournament, and this isn't the type of place that tolerates such things, because this is a place that hasn't missed the NCAA tournament since NCAA probation prevented it in 1991.
Remember, Tubby Smith made 10 consecutive NCAA tournaments.
And the Kentucky fans essentially ran him off!
"Anytime you lose, the mood is bad," Meeks said after his 24-point performance on a 10-of-22 shooting effort. "We just have to get ready for Georgia and go from there."
But go where?
To Florida and win next weekend, which would -- assuming Kentucky beats Georgia on Wednesday -- push the Wildcats' SEC record to a respectable 10-6? For UK's sake, Meeks better hope so, because anything short of that will have this team that right now has an RPI in the 60s and a 6-8 record against the Top 100 (with two losses outside the Top 100) in need of a deep SEC tournament run to be in contention for an at-large bid.
And that's not a situation Kentucky fans seem capable of dealing with, if only because they haven't been used to dealing with it in many, many years.
kyblu 
