John Calipari Says Kentucky 'Built For March,' But What Time Of The Month?

Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari announced his team is "built for March" on his weekly radio show Monday night.

But exactly what time of the month is he talking about?

The No. 17 Wildcats (18-7, 8-4 Southeastern Conference) are coming off two straight impressive victories last week - 75-63 over Ole Miss (19-6, 6-6) and 70-59 Saturday at No. 13 Auburn (20-6, 9-4 SEC). Auburn fell to No. 14 after its 16-0 home winning streak going back to last season ended.

March includes the end of the SEC regular season on March 9 and the SEC Tournament March 13-17 in Nashville. The NCAA Tournament first round opens on March 21 with the regional championship games March 28-31. The Final Four is April 6-8 in Glendale, Arizona. Calipari has not been to a Final Four with Kentucky since 2015.

John Calipari became the first Kentucky coach ever this season to lose three straight home games in Rupp Arena, which opened in 1976. 

Calipari has not exactly been "built for (late) March" runs in the NCAA Tournament over the last several years. Since an Elite Eight appearance in 2019 and the COVID cancels in 2020, he missed the 2021 March Madness with a 9-16 and 8-9 season. Following a 26-8 and 14-4 finish in 2022, Kentucky fell to No. 15 seed Saint Peter's, 85-79, in overtime in the first round in March. Last season, Kentucky finished 22-12 and 12-6 and lost in the second round to Kansas State in March.

Kentucky Has Not Looked ‘Built’ To Last

Just recently this season, Kentucky at times looked like it would only make it to early March. The Wildcats lost three straight games in 23,500-seat Rupp Arena in Lexington for the first time since that beautiful building opened in 1976 when Kentucky lost only two there. Current No. 24 Florida took the Wildcats, 94-91, on Jan. 31 at Rupp before now No. 5 Tennessee won, 103-92, on Feb. 3 and unranked Gonzaga made it three, 89-85, on Feb. 10. The previous time Kentucky lost three in a row at home was in the 1966-67 season at Memorial Coliseum.

Kentucky broke the unwelcome home skid last Tuesday over Ole Miss. The Auburn win gave the Wildcats two straight wins in the SEC for just the second time this season.  

"I can't tell you that we're not going to have some more bumps in the road," Calipari said Monday. "But I come back to - this team's built for March."

Fifth-year senior, 6-foot-6 guard Antonio Reeves of Chicago had a late March-type game in the win at Auburn with 22 points, including 3-of-6 shooting from 3-point range, and five rebounds.

"The guy today, and why I keep coming back to March, was Antonio," Calipari said during an interesting rant after Auburn on Saturday. "When one guy can go do what he did in this type game, it's huge."

So did 7-foot sophomore forward Ugonna Onyenso of Nigeria. He had 11 rebounds and two blocked shots with seven rebounds.

"Ugonna was ridiculous again today," Calipari said. 

Kentucky Got March-Like Performances At Auburn

Onyenso tied a Rupp Arena record last week against Ole Miss with 10 blocked shots, equaling Navy's David Robinson in 1987.

"Coming into this game, nobody really believed we were going to win the game," Onyenso said. "Nobody really believed in us. So, we came in with nothing to lose. We told ourselves, ‘If we really want it, we can get it.’"

Onyenso loved the rare underdog role at Auburn. He couldn't even wait until he sat down at the press conference after the game to start gloating.

"We have some people here that are there for a reason," he said smiling. "We're going to make this out to be," and he quickly switched course.

Uh, yes, John - to cover one of the bigger games of the day.

"Please just leave my players," he said. "Let them be young and learn, and keep attacking me. I may be the worst in the country. Just attack me and leave these kids alone."   

Calipari, 65, is in his 15th year at Kentucky after winning big at Memphis and Massachusetts. But he sounds like a rookie, or perhaps someone who knows his best years may be well behind him. He has not won 30 games since 2017. His last of two national runner-up finishes was in 2014. His lone national title was in 2012. There were four Final Fours between 2008 and '15 at Memphis and Kentucky, but is there another one out there?

Kentucky coach John Calipari can show he is built for March in upcoming games against Alabama and Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

With Name, Image & Likeness, he can no longer stockpile the best one-and-done players in the world. And he is apparently having trouble getting over that.

Kentucky fans wonder. They criticized him and his team harshly during that three-game losing streak at home. A 79-62 road loss at South Carolina before that did not go over well either.

Does John Calipari Think Kentucky Is Back?

Maybe he thinks the win over Auburn by 11 means Kentucky is back. Maybe he's right.

"I know there are people who would say stuff to try to hurt this thing," he said.

What is Calipari now? A high school coach? 

He was still smarting from the earlier criticisms of his defense, which were justified.

"Now what could you write? ‘They were so bad defensively?’" he asked. "That's a top 10 offensive team and a top 10 defensive team."

Maybe, Calipari needs to get mad more.

He will need to do so quickly again.

After LSU (13-12, 5-7 SEC) on Wednesday (9 p.m., ESPN), Kentucky must host No. 13 and first place Alabama (18-7, 10-2 SEC) on Saturday (4 p.m., CBS). The Wildcats close the regular season at No. 5 Tennessee (19-6, 9-3 SEC) on Saturday, March 9 (4 p.m., CBS).

"It all depends on ourselves," Onyenso said. "The coaches can talk however long they want to. But if we don't lock in defensively, we're not going nowhere."

Which is what all the critics were saying that Calipari couldn't handle.