No. 1 Kentucky stunned by Evansville

Kentucky point guard Tyrese Maxey dribbled down the court with the No. 1 Wildcats down by three with five seconds to go. He did a quick dribble move and shot a three-pointer from near the half court line for the win.

Noting but net.

The shot was short and barely grazed the net, anyway. Kentucky lost to the unranked Evansville Purple Aces 67-64 in Lexington to the shock of the Wildcats and the rest of the college basketball world on Tuesday.

What Happened

For only the third time in his 10-year tenure with Kentucky, John Calipari and the Wildcats lost to an unranked team. Evansville entered the game as 24.5 point underdog and thanks to some poor shooting (on both sides), the Purple Aces pulled out the win.

The Wildcats shot an uncharacteristic 37% from the field while Evansville shot 38%.

The Purple Aces were led by guards K.J. Riley and Sam Cunliffe with 17 and 18 points, respectively.

Maxey had 15 points on 5-12 shooting but was just 1-4 from three-point range. Kentucky guard Immanuel Quckley led the Wildcats with 16 points and, strangely enough, shot the same from the field and three-point range as Maxey.

What this means for Evansville

The Evansville Purple Aces were 0-33 against ranked opponents on the road before Tuesday night and the win meant the world to the small school of 2,500 students. It may have meant the most to their coach, a former Wildcat.

Evansville head coach Walter McCarty won a championship with Kentucky as a player in 1996 and the Evansville native was greeted with a shower when he went to his team’s locker room after the upset.

https://twitter.com/espn/status/1194448489146650624?s=20

The team received a welcome suitable for a team that just dethroned the No. 1 team in the country.

“Need this at EVERY home game.” – @SamCunliffe_3

Thank you students for the warm welcome back to UE! #ForTheAces pic.twitter.com/dFIpJs5kd0

— Evansville Basketball (@UEAthletics_MBB) November 13, 2019

Kentucky beat then-No. 1 Michigan State to take the top ranking before losing to Evansville at home and will need to prove yet again that they are for real when it comes to contending. The Wildcats will take on Utah Valley University on Monday at 7 p.m.