The Kentucky Wildcats needed 2 overtimes, but they eventually picked up their second win of the season on Saturday night in Starkville, taking down Mississippi State 78-73.

The Wildcats had to play without coach John Calipari for part of the second half and both overtimes after he was ejected for arguing with officials.

Here’s the ejection below. Clearly, it had the intended effect of motivating Kentucky players to start playing better:

Coach Cal is no stranger to using ejections as a motivational tactic. Yes, these 2 quick technicals helped Mississippi State extend its lead, but the Wildcats were up to the challenge.

After the game, Calipari said he knew the ejection would be a turning point one way or the other. He added that he snuck back into the locker room to celebrate with the team (via 247Sports):

“When I walked off, I said ‘This is either going to be a good thing or a bad thing’. Then when we started making our run, it was a lot of time. So, I knew it wasn’t four minutes, it was nine. So, we watched it.

“What I did after the game, I snuck in the back of the locker room in the far corner before they came in because I just wanted to enjoy that celebration. I wanted to see it, and I wanted to enjoy it. I wanted to remember why I do what I do – to see that kind of stuff. Them doing it without me is even better.”

Now, Kentucky is 1-0 in SEC play, which Calipari said was the goal all along:

“We needed something good to happen,” Calipari said. “We just needed to win one to get going. And now to start the season off we’re 1-0. All this other stuff — we’re 1-0. We use preseason to get us ready for our league play. And you know what? It got us ready. This is a big-time win, now. Big-time win.”

Kentucky’s next game is against Vanderbilt on Tuesday night in Lexington. If the Wildcats can improve to 2-0 in SEC action, confidence will continue to build among the players.