John Calipari laments another early exit in an all-blue Nashville. ‘I felt for the fans…

John Calipari laments another early exit in an all-blue Nashville. ‘I felt for the fans.’ BY BEN ROBERTS UPDATED MARCH 16, 2024 12:08 AM Highlights from Kentucky’s battle with Texas A&M in the SEC Basketball Tournament. BY SILAS WALKER READ MORE Game day: Texas A&M 97, No. 9 Kentucky 87 Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Friday night’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Texas A&M at the SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tenn. EXPAND ALL NASHVILLE, TENN. A Kentucky basketball season filled with excitement met a Bridgestone Arena filled with folks looking to see a whole lot more of it over the course of three days. Those fans left two days early and sorely disappointed. When the Wildcats hit the court in Nashville for their SEC Tournament opener Friday night against Texas A&M, the place was dominated by the color blue from the floor to the rafters. This event is always packed with UK fans, and they were out in full force again, raucous during the Cats’ pregame introductions and ready with a chant of “Go Big Blue!” at every opportunity. As the night went on, those opportunities dwindled. Texas A&M defeated Kentucky 97-87 in the tournament quarterfinals, sending John Calipari and the Wildcats home after just one game for the second consecutive year and the third time in the past four seasons. The Aggies also extended UK’s drought in the league tourney by at least one more year. The Cats have won 31 SEC Tournament titles over the years, more than every other team currently in the league combined. But they haven’t taken home the trophy since 2018. In fact, they haven’t even made the title game since then. For the fifth straight season, Kentucky won’t be playing for the league championship on Sunday. Calipari’s Cats likely could’ve locked up a 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament with a win Friday night. They still had an outside shot at a 2 seed. Calipari won SEC Tournament titles in his first two years at UK and then won four more from 2015-18, but he’s always downplayed the importance of the league tourney. He said after Friday night’s loss that there was still plenty to play for, however, specifically mentioning a shot at a better seed on Selection Sunday. “This tournament for us was about the seed,” he said. “You got to win and you got to advance to improve your seed. We had every chance. All that’s going on around the country, we had our chance. But we had to go and play well today.” Calipari also acknowledged its importance to those who showed up in Nashville. “It was also about our fans,” he said. “I told them that. We got a lot of people that traveled, spent money. This is their opportunity to watch this team. … “I felt for the fans. I said it to Tom (Leach) after on the radio. You want to win for them. They put everything into being here, all that. You want to win for them.” Kentucky fans react at the end of the team’s SEC Tournament quarterfinals loss to Texas A&M. Silas Walker swalker@herald-leader.com Kentucky had plenty of support in the building. At tipoff, the arena appeared to be about 90% blue (and that’s probably a conservative estimate). The UK fans popped when the Cats hit the court for the final layup line and stayed loud as the starting lineups were announced. When super subs Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard went to the scorer’s table in the opening minutes, Kentucky was already down 8-1, but the crowd went wild again. “I told them: When you walk in this arena, you’re going to think you’re in Rupp Arena,” Calipari said. “Let’s go play for ’em, have some fun, let them see who we are. Some of these people can’t get in Rupp Arena. Let’s go.” When Kentucky went on a 9-1 run to take a 16-15 lead, the place went nuts, rivaling the loudest moments in Rupp, which was home to plenty of those this season. Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams signaled for a timeout, and the noise sustained as the teams went to their huddles. Eleven seconds later, A&M took the lead back. The Aggies never trailed again. And Kentucky’s fans — packed for a three-day trip — were left to ponder going home early or sitting through a weekend of basketball without their Wildcats on the court. “Sometimes your teams don’t play well,” Calipari said. “Sometimes they do and you advance and you win. Sometimes they don’t. Especially young teams. We didn’t do it today. “I don’t want you to take away from A&M because they played well.”