The No. 1 Kentucky Wildcats dominated Cleveland State in a 101-70 victory Wednesday. That's not any kind of news. What is news, however, is that the win was John Calipari's 123rd at Rupp Arena since taking over as coach of the Wildcats in 2010, which makes him the all-time leader, passing Joe B. Hall's 122.
We all know Calipari has been wildly successful at Kentucky. But just look at some of the staggering Rupp Arena numbers.
- He ripped off 55 straight wins at Rupp to start his career. His first loss was to Baylor in 2012, two years into his tenure.
- Calipari isn't the only coach to have high success as a head coach at Rupp Arena, obviously, as the Wildcats have an incredible 89.6 winning percentage. (550-64) at home as a program.
- Cal moves to 123-4 as the Kentucky head coach at Rupp, a 96.9 win percentage. Think about that: he's lost four times at home in seven seasons.
- Calipari has led four undefeated seasons at Rupp. UK's last home loss was an overtime game to Arkansas on Feb. 27, 2014.
- The Cats are riding a 41-game home winning streak under Cal, which is the second longest streak behind the 129 straight Kentucky won at Rupp between 1943 and 1955 -- an NCAA record that still stands.
When asked earlier in the week about the significance of the achievement that he would likely reach Wednesday, Calipari brushed it off as only he would.
"Yay," he said sarcastically via the Courier-Journal. "The only thing here is, Final Four's and national titles. It's not league championships, it's none of that. It's not wins in the building, it's not wins on the road, it's not wins in neutral. It's Final Fours and national titles and that's what we chase here. So that's all nice."
It's an impressive milestone, indeed, but Calipari is clearly keeping his eyes on the prize for his No. 1 ranked Wildcats.
