A tired and struggling Kentucky team will find no relief tonight in Columbia, a place where things rarely end well. Since Colonial Life Arena was renamed in 2009, Kentucky has played 11 games inside the unfriendly confines and walked away victorious just five times.
Colonial Life Arena loves destroying Kentucky dreams
The misery started early. Billy Gillispie was the first Kentucky coach to feel it, watching his team get handled 77-59 in 2009. Unfortunately, it didn’t stop there.
In 2010, Kentucky arrived in Columbia ranked No. 1 in the country. Darrin Horn and South Carolina knocked the Cats off their pedestal with a stunning 68-62 upset, fueled by a 30-point explosion from Devan Downey.
Kentucky found a little rhythm over the next two seasons, picking up back-to-back wins, before another ranked team ran straight into trouble. Frank Martin and an unranked South Carolina squad knocked off No. 17 Kentucky 72-67 in 2014. The Cats would win twice more after that, but South Carolina has gone 3-1 over the last eight years.
The most recent trip was a loud reminder that you can throw the records out when Kentucky meets the Gamecocks. Kentucky entered ranked sixth in the country. South Carolina was unranked. Lamont Paris’ squad obliterated the Cats 79-62.
This Kentucky team isn’t nearly as talented as that one, and this South Carolina team is playing for nothing but pride. At 12-15, the Gamecocks won’t sniff the NCAA Tournament unless they win the SEC Tournament, and they might not reach any postseason at all without a late miracle.
But if there’s one thing teams across the country love doing, it’s embarrassing Kentucky.
Meechie Johnson can get hot and channel a little Devan Downey; he is averaging just over 19 per game in SEC play. Paris has already shown he knows how to beat a ranked Kentucky team with an unranked roster. And this Wildcats group arrives bruised, frustrated, and feeling cheated.
It won’t take much to energize the building, or this South Carolina team.
So the question is simple: can the Cats finally wake up from their Colonial Life Arena nightmare, or will this season continue to feel like one long, bad dream?