The tears and agony of defeat flushed upon Kentucky freshman Reed Sheppard’s face said it all as the oh-so highly talked about Kentucky Wildcats were shown the door in the first round of the NCAA Tournament once more on Thursday night.
The No. 3 seed Kentucky suffered an 80-76 loss to the No. 14 seeded Oakland Golden Grizzlies – shortening its reservation in the dance to just a day for the second time in three years.
The Wildcats had seven freshmen on their roster this season, which made up the No. 1 ranked recruiting class in 2023 and throughout the regular season it showed as they finished with a 23-8 overall record and a 13-5 record in SEC play.