To me, this whole “toughness” thing has become a cliche. You hear coaches use it all the time. We have to get tougher, they say. We have to play tougher. Claiming the opponent was tougher and more physical is a common excuse after a loss. Too often a convenient one.
Tuesday night in Knoxville, however, the shoe fit. We’re talking Kentucky’s 76-63 loss to the revenge-minded Tennessee Volunteers. Payback was in play. With the Vols determined to avenge that 107-79 drubbing they received from their border rival at Rupp Arena one month before, the Cats got rattled. Then they got rolled.
Three minutes into the contest, UK Coach John Calipari was hit with a technical foul for objecting to a call against center Oscar Tshiebwe. (Cal had a legitimate beef.) Less than three minutes later, Tennessee’s John Fulkerson stumbled into the UK bench, setting off a skirmish between the two teams that ended with Tennessee guard Zakai Zeigler and UK strength coach Robert Harris being assessed technical fouls. That’s right, the strength coach.
