LEXINGTON, Ky. -- In the aftermath of the unthinkable Tuesday night at Rupp Arena -- Evansville's 67-64 triumph over newly anointed No. 1 Kentucky -- John Calipari wanted to make something clear.

This was no fluke.

The Purple Aces, who came into the matchup as 25-point underdogs, beat the mighty Wildcats in every conceivable way, the UK head coach said.

"Their team deserved to win," Calipari said. "If we would have somehow pulled it out, you know... kind of wouldn't even have been fair because they fought us the whole game and they were the tougher team. They executed, they made shots, 3s, and free throws. My hat is off to them. It's hard to do that in this building, but they were more ready to play."

Evansville (2-0) led for almost 30 of the game's 40 minutes. The Wildcats held the lead for less than six minutes.

Kentucky (2-1) was coming off a hard-fought win over preseason No. 1 Michigan State and a romp over Eastern Kentucky to open the first week of the season. But the Wildcats were not able to match the intensity or the execution that Evansville brought to the floor.

A big part of that, coincidentally, was the leadership of former UK fan favorite and 1996 national champion Walter McCarty, now in his second season on the Evansville bench.

"I believe in my guys and they will tell you that," McCarty said. "We talk to (former UK teammate) Tony Delk, those guys, (and) I told them we were going to come in here and were going to get one, we are going to surprise a lot of people today."

Evansville held Kentucky to a 37-percent (20 of 54) shooting night from the field and outrebounded the Cats 38-35.

Senior guard K.J. Riley led the Purple Aces with 18 points, including an 8-for-8 night at the free-throw line, and junior guard Sam Cunliffe added 17 for the winners.

Kentucky, after seeing six players score in double-figures in its previous game, had only two on this night: Immanuel Quickley with 16 and Tyrese Maxey with 15. But the UK guard tandem combined to hit only 10 of 24 shots from the field.

Ashton Hagans, who was later revealed to be playing with a vaguely described leg injury according to Calipari, was held to just three points on 1-of-8 shooting and committed four of the Cats' 13 turnovers.

Kentucky also played without sophomore forward E.J. Montgomery, who missed his second game with an ankle injury sustained in the season opener.

*****

In this Cats Illustrated "Rapid Recap" feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK loss…

THE GOOD:

You can't help but feel good for Walter McCarty, the now gray-bearded UK alum who helped hang banner No. 6. If anyone was going to come into Rupp Arena and do this to the Cats, it might as well be one of their own. Now you just hope that his Evansville team can build on it and have a special season rather than becoming a one-hit wonder.

THE BAD:

Where do we begin? It would take too long to list it all, but getting beat to loose balls proved to be Kentucky's ultimate downfall. Evansville had 11 offensive rebounds on the night, including two during the decisive final 2:39 that helped seal the Cats' fate.

THE UGLY:

Kentucky was 4-of-17 from the 3-point arc, dropping its season numbers to 24.4% (12 of 49). For a backcourt-dominated team, that's an abysmal start to the season. What's even more worrisome is that the Cats don't seem to be able to get anyone clean looks at this stage. Calipari may need a much-earlier tweak than usual.

GAME BALL:

Walter McCarty, Evansville -- The former Cat had his team well-prepared and believing it could not only come into Rupp Arena and compete Tuesday night but also win the game. Said Riley when asked when he started believing the Aces could pull the upset: “In practice when we started scouting them. We had confidence before we even came in here. Coach told us, ‘We could win; this is a winnable game.’ Then we believed it from the jump. We didn’t say, ‘Oh they have a lot of guys on the draft board.’ We had faith in ourselves, as a team, and the work we put in, and the preparation.”

BY THE NUMBERS:

1st - Meeting between Kentucky and Evansville in men's basketball.

5th - Time in school history that UK has both defeated a team ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll and lost as the No. 1 team in the AP Poll in the same season (1951-1952, 1993-1994, 1995-1996, 2002-2003, 2019-2020).

9 - Rebounds by Immanuel Quickley led UK and set a new career-high for the sophomore guard.

17th - Time UK has lost in 11 years under Calipari when holding an opponent under 40% from the field. Evansville shot 38.3%

26-24 - Bench scoring advantage for the Purple Aces.

29:34 - Time holding the lead for Evansville. The Cats led for only 5:44. The game had five ties and seven lead changes.

52 - Game winning streak against unranked opponents at home snapped for UK. It's only the fifth time under Calipari that the Cats have lost at home to an unranked team.

19,101 - Announced attendance at Rupp Arena, although several more seats than that figure went unclaimed on the night.

QUOTABLE:

"This wasn't us giving them a game; they took it from us." -- UK head coach John Calipari

UP NEXT:

Kentucky returns to action on Monday, Nov. 18, against Utah Valley. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.