Kentucky's John Calipari: 'No disrespect' for lack of handshakes

ATLANTA -- Kansas State players said they were upset that after beating Kentucky in the NCAA tournament Thursday night, its players and coaches left the court before taking part in a postgame handshake.

Kentucky coach John Calipari said there was no disrespect meant by his team.

"They didn't shake our hands," Kansas State junior guard Amaad Wainright said after his team's  61-58 Sweet 16 victory. "It's sorry. ... They know what they did."

Wainright said he wasn't sure why Kentucky's players and coaches didn't stick around. He said he wanted to shake Calipari's hand, in particular, but couldn't.

"On that situation, it's all about respect," Wainright said. "That's what it should have been -- all about respect."

Calipari said that wasn't the case at all. Rather, he said, he tried to go shake hands only to see Kansas State's players busy on the court celebrating.

"They were turned and celebrating, so I walked off," he explained. "There was no disrespect for anything. It's just that they were celebrating, and I was happy for them."

He added: "My team's not like that. There's no disrespect in any way. They beat us. They deserved to win the game."

Nonetheless, Kansas State forward  Levi Stockard III said that Kentucky leaving the court felt intentional.

"That's not the sportsmanship you like to see, but that's them," Stockard said. "They just walked off the court. I don't know what it was. I don't know."

No. 9 seed Kansas State advances to the Elite Eight where it will face No. 11 seed Loyola-Chicago on Saturday night in Atlanta.

No. 5 Kentucky was ultimately undone by sloppy play on offense. Kansas State had 24 points off of turnovers, compared to Kentucky's seven points.

Afterward, Calipari said he was "proud" of his team for what it accomplished this season, reaching the regional semifinal.

Calipari said on Wednesday that he warned his team not to drink the "poison" of those saying that Kentucky was a sure thing to reach the Final Four. Even after losing, Calipari said he felt his team handled the situation well, ignoring the outside noise.

"It was a physical game and it got us a little out of rhythm," Calipari said. "... We had our chances."

Calipari, who has said this was one of the most difficult coaching jobs of his career with so many freshmen on the team, remained upbeat in the postgame news conference.

"Both individually and collectively, this was a rewarding team for me," he said. "I just wish it could have ended in another week."