Kansas State upset a favored Kentucky squad in the Sweet 16 by holding the Wildcats to just 58 points Thursday night. It was a loss so painful it sent John Calipari’s team reeling to the locker room — without paying their respects to the victors.
Kansas State is upset Kentucky left the court without shaking hands after Sweet 16 loss
“It’s sorry. ... They know what they did.”
Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports
Kentucky’s players left the court without going through the customary post-game handshake line, leaving the underdog Wildcats feeling spurned in the aftermath.
“They didn’t shake our hands,” Kansas State guard Amaad Wainright, who scored six points in the win, told reporters after the game. “It’s sorry ... they know what they did. On that situation, it’s all about respect. That’s what it should have been — all about respect.”
Teammate Levi Stockard, who fouled out in five minutes Thursday, agreed.
“That’s not the sportsmanship you like to see, but that’s them,” Stockard said. “They just walked off the court. I don’t know what it was. I don’t know.”
Calipari didn’t see it that way. He claimed his team hit the showers after not wanting to get in the way of Kansas State’s celebration.
“Well, I went down to shake their hands, too, and they were turned and celebrating so that I walked off,” Calipari explained in his post-game press conference. “I had no disrespect for anything, just that they were celebrating and I was happy for them. I walked off, too. But I went down, I shook all the coaches’ hands, I went down to shake their hands ... My team’s not like that. There’s no disrespect in any way. They beat us. They deserved to win the game.”
Not all UK’s players skipped the post-game ritual. As Kentucky Sports Radio pointed out, CBS’s broadcast caught at least a few Wildcats shaking hands with the Kansas State coaching staff, even if it appears some of the players got snubbed.
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