Kentucky Basketball has a new Secret Weapon: Eli Capilouto

It was a rough week for the Kentucky basketball team, and that’s an understatement. After getting blown out at Alabama and upset by South Carolina at Rupp Arena, no criticism felt too harsh. Jeff Goodman was calling for Calipari to depart, UK was the No. 1 story on PTI and one fan brought a “Please go to Texas” sign to Rupp. Oh, and that doesn’t even include all of the drama with Mitch Barnhart.

Amid all the outside noise, John Calipari’s team received support from a seemingly unexpected source, UK president Eli Capilouto.

“It was great,” Calipari said Saturday afternoon in Knoxville. “Dr. Capilouto was with us. He was in the shoot-around with us, he was in the meals with us and I was so happy he wanted to come. I wanted him absolutely immersed with us so he can see what we’re trying to do and how we’re trying to do it.”

Did Kentucky need another cheerleader in their traveling party? No, but Capilouto’s presence alone made an impact, providing a symbolic stamp of approval from the highest-ranking administrator on campus. The emboldened and confident Wildcats returned the favor by rewarding Capilouto with a 63-56 win over Tennessee.

“I’m happy for Dr. Capilouto, Mitch, Dr. Todd, the guys that brought me here, I’m happy for them,” said Calipari. “This is has been — it’s no easy road. But I haven’t lost any faith in these guys. I’ve done this a long time.”

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Unsung Heroes from the Kentucky Win over Tennessee

Eli Capilouto did his part and so did these guys, even though the box score might not indicate it.

Adou Thiero: Did anyone think he would be playing valuable minutes at point guard for Kentucky? Nope, but he answered the bell when his number was called as Cason Wallace dealt with back spasms and foul trouble. In 13 minutes Thiero had two steals, a pair of turnovers and sunk all four of his free throw attempts.

Chris Livingston: I was surprised when I checked the box score and saw that Livingston only scored 6 points, because for the first time in a long time, you could feel his presence on the floor. He used physicality to his advantage and attacked the paint. Defensively, he gave up nothing easily with a stop rate of 66%. In a hard-fought game, the tenacity from Livingston was needed.

CJ Fredrick: Kentucky has needed shot-makers in the worst way. They got it from Fredrick who led UK in effective field goal percentage (50%) and true shooting percentage (54%) while knocking down three three-pointers. No shot was bigger than the three he hit in a tie ballgame with 5:37 on the clock. It was just what the Wildcats needed to pull away down the stretch.