Robert Morris stuns Kentucky in NIT, 59-57
MOON TOWNSHIP, PA. — The little gym was rocking at Robert Morris University on Tuesday night. Students packed one side of the Sewall Center's pull-out wooden bleachers two hours early. By tipoff, the public-address man was pleading, "Please squeeze as closely together as possible," and they'd crammed a record 3,444 people in the crackerjack box - many of them with no actual seats - to see the University of Kentucky basketball team come to town.
The Colonials' players, moments before the biggest game in school history, could hear the building buzzing as they huddled in the hallway. They reassured each other. "We ain't scared." Then they put their hands in together. "Shock the world on three!" They all repeated it together - then they did it. Well, sort of.
Eighth-seeded Robert Morris' 59-57 upset of the top-seeded Wildcats in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament was simply the final thud in a dud of a season for UK. The Colonials scored the game's first 10 points, led at the half and trailed for a total of 32 seconds.
BOX SCORE:Robert Morris 59, Kentucky 57
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The Cats looked disinterested for most of the game, trailing by as many as 13, but made one last push. Down 53-42 with 6:32 to go, Kentucky (21-12) scored 11 unanswered points, sparked by freshman guard Archie Goodwin, to tie it with 3:15 remaining. The Cats almost immediately fell behind again.
Kyle Wiltjer got off a good look at what would've been an improbable, game-winning 3-pointer, but like UK and the NCAA Tournament, it missed. A little less than a year ago, the Cats cut down nets after winning the 2012 national championship at the Superdome in New Orleans. Tuesday, they concluded their 2013 collapse by watching Colonials fans storm the court in suburban Pittsburgh.
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It added insult to ineptitude for Kentucky coach John Calipari, who grew up in this town and was prom king at Moon Area High School, less than a mile from the scene of his team's sputtering finale. There was no crown this time, only a cool reception and another bitter disappointment.
At Robert Morris (24-10), it was a night no one will ever forget. The school canceled classes so students could soak up this historic moment, the big boys coming to play in their small pond. On a list of "10 Commandments" for the Colonials, No. 9 was "Remember the day we upset UK."
It will no doubt be a nagging memory for Calipari and Cats fans too.
Kyle Tucker writes for the Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal, a Gannett property.
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