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Rare skid: UK's other three-game losing streaks over the past 30 years

Kentucky's not in uncharted territory, but the Wildcats' three-game losing streak has placed them in an unfamiliar, uncomfortable situation.

Cats Illustrated takes a look at Kentucky's other three-game losing streaks since the 1989-90 season, the first under Rick Pitino and when the Wildcats were on probation.

Jodie Meeks (Getty)
Jodie Meeks (Getty)
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Team: 2008-2009

Losses: 1/27/09 at Ole Miss (85-80), 1/31/09 vs South Carolina (78-77), 2/3/09 vs Mississippi State

What Happened: Kentucky was No. 24 going into that three-game losing streak and coming off a five-game winning streak. This team had lost to VMI at home at the beginning of the season so there were warning signs early. Two of the three losses during this team's first three-game losing streak were at Rupp Arena, so friendly confines in Lexington weren't all that helpful. Patrick Patterson and Jodie Meeks played at a fairly high level during this stretch and certainly for the season but they didn't get much help and Kentucky didn't hit many three-pointers.

Team: 2008-2009

Losses: 2/25/09 at South Carolina (77-59), 2/28/09 vs LSU (73-70), 3/3/09 vs Georgia (90-85), 3/7/09 at Florida (60-53)

What Happened: The '08-09 actually "one-upped" itself with a four-game losing streak that started at the end of the same month the first three-game losing streak ended. Included were two more home losses. In that ugly road loss to South Carolina, Patterson and Meeks combined for 46 points and the rest of the team scored 13 altogether. Against LSU, UK's leading duo scored 52 points; everyone else, 18. Clearly, there just wasn't much of a supporting cast. This Kentucky team eventually lost to Notre Dame in the third round of the NIT.

Patrick Patterson (AP)
Patrick Patterson (AP)

Team: 2007-2008

Losses: 12/1/07 vs North Carolina (86-77), 12/8/07 at Indiana (70-51), 12/15/07 vs UAB (79-76) in Louisville, 12/18/07 at Houston (83-69)

What Happened: Billy Gillispie's first Kentucky team had one of the worst stretches in modern UK history here. There were demoralizing rivalry losses to North Carolina and Indiana, with the Wildcats not really competitive in either game. And these four consecutive losses stretched over a period that lasted the majority of December, so fans couldn't shake the losing for quite some time. Jodie Meeks was out for three of the first four losses during this span. Kentucky was run off the court in its road losses to Indiana and Houston.

Ramel Bradley and Joe Crawford (AP)
Ramel Bradley and Joe Crawford (AP)

Team: 2006-2007

Losses: 2/10/07 vs Florida (64-61), 2/13/07 at Tennessee (89-85), 2/17/07 at Alabama

What Happened: So far as three-game skids go, this one seems rather forgivable. Florida was the No. 1 team in the country when they defeated No. 20 Kentucky in Rupp Arena on a day when College Gameday was in Rupp Arena. The loss to Tennessee on the road was close and the Alabama team that won in Rupp was a top 25 squad. The Wildcats struggled early, falling behind by around 10 points at halftime of each of those games. The 2006-07 team defeated Villanova in the first round of the West Regional before losing to Kansas 88-76.

Team: 2005-2006

Losses: 1/7/06 at Kansas (73-46), 1/10/06 vs Vanderbilt (57-52), 1/14/06 vs Alabama (68-64)

What Happened: Kentucky traveled to Lawrence, Kan., as the nation's No. 19 ranked team, with the Jayhawks out of the polls completely. By halftime, the score was 41-19 Kansas. Kentucky finished that game 3/25 from three-point range and the Wildcats were also beaten badly on the boards. Kentucky's losses to Vanderbilt and Alabama were both to unranked teams at home. Not surprisingly, this stretch was a complete failure on the offensive end of the court. The 2005-06 Kentucky team finished 22-13, defeating UAB in the first round of the Washington D.C. Regional before losing to UCONN 87-83.

Team: 1999-2000

Losses: 11/26/99 vs Arizona (63-51) at New York, 11/29/99 vs Dayton (68-66) at Cincinnati, 12/4/99 vs Indiana (83-75) at Indianapolis

What Happened: In all three of Kentucky's 1999 early-season losses the games were played on neutral sites. The loss to Arizona came in the Preseason NIT Championship after wins against Penn, No. 16 Utah and No. 22 Maryland, so there weren't a lot of red flags after a quality start. That 'Zona team had plenty of talent with Gilbert Arenas, Richardson Jefferson and Jason Gardner. More concerning was the loss to Dayton, when the Wildcats shot poorly from the field for the second straight game, and then the loss to Indiana when A.J. Guyton scored 21 for the Hoosiers in what was then a rare Kentucky loss to Indiana. That Kentucky team defeated St. Bonaventure in double overtime in the Midwest Region's first round before losing to Syracuse 52-50.

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