Kentucky finished its 2007-08 campaign with its first first-round defeat in the NCAA Tournament in 21 years, but the season was a success for the Wildcats in some unexpected ways.

They spit and sputtered early on, losing to Gardner-Webb in November and stumbling through a four-game losing streak in early December.

But just about the time the Wildcats were looking to be counted out, they somehow recovered and made a surprising run through the SEC portion of their schedule. Their 12-4 mark got them second place in their division and was pretty much responsible for their at-large bid to the NCAA field.

Injuries were a major factor. Jodie Meeks and Derrick Jasper missed a combined total of 29 games, seniors Ramel Bradley and Joe Crawford missed a game each, and Patrick Patterson sat out the last five.

The injuries to Meeks and Jasper impacted the early season, and Patterson's absence had a major impact on the stretch run.

In the first game Patterson sat out, the Wildcats lost by three points on the road at Tennessee. Later, they lost in the SEC tournament quarterfinals in overtime to Georgia, then by eight points to Marquette in the NCAA tourney opener after fighting to within two points with 23 seconds to go.

It's not a stretch to see the Wildcats winning at least two of those games, which could have resulted in a higher NCAA seed than the No. 11 they received, and even all three of them.

Looking ahead, coach Billy Gillispie has some major rebuilding to do for next season. The loss of Bradley and Crawford leaves them without about 50 percent of their point production from this season.

Meeks, who had two games of 21 points, could step up in that void and complement Patterson.

But no other returnee has shown an inclination or the potential to pick up that slack, which leaves the Wildcats with a lot of work to do.

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