Kentucky had the ball with a chance to send its Sweet 16 game against Kansas State into overtime but came up just short in a 61-58 loss late Thursday evening in Atlanta.

Following the devastating result for John Calipari’s program, the Kentucky coach was eager to credit Kansas State coach Bruce Weber and his program for grinding out a tough win.

“I have to give those kids credit, they missed a ton of free throws and they hung in there. (Our) inexperience came through,” Calipari said following the game. “Kansas State played hard, they played physical, played great defense. They shot 35 percent and won a Sweet 16 game. It says a lot about their program.”

While willing to give KState credit, Calipari expressed his disappointment with his lack of action in the closing seconds of the game during Kentucky’s post-game press conference.

“I’m proud of my team. We had a chance to win. We didn’t play particularly well for us but still had a chance to win,” Calipari said. “I should have called that timeout late, with 19 seconds to go but we had worked on something and I thought we could catch them off guard. Veteran team, should have called a timeout. I can’t put that on these guy’s shoulders, that’s on me.

Kentucky’s star freshman Kevin Knox shared these comments that came from Coach Cal after the Wildcats’ season came to an end.

“He just told us to keep our heads up. What we did this year, as a lot of freshmen, is make history,” Knox said in the locker room after the game. “We did a great job all season, staying with each other. Cal just wanted to make sure we stick together, keep our heads up and just keep playing and do what we got to do.”