Fat Cats? Big lead again lulls UK into false sense of security

The scoreboard said Kentucky won. But Coach John Calipari suggested Kentucky did not win, at least not in a way that breeds confidence that there will be many more victories to come.

An already familiar bugaboo of a poor second half made UK’s 70-62 victory over Troy Monday night less than fully satisfying.

“I had to battle them too much in the second half,” Calipari said, “and I’ve got to teach them how to win. And if that game were closer, we lose that game.”

Troy came to Rupp Arena with a history of big second halves this season. For instance, the Trojans scored 60 points in the second half against Brewton-Parker on Thursday. Troy outscored UK 37-29 in the second half.

Kentucky led 63-42 with less than 10 minutes left.

“Defensively, you just don’t have letdowns when you’re up 21 and you’re ready to bury somebody,” Calipari said. “And you just start acting like it doesn’t matter anymore.”

Nick Richards pled guilty.

“We got a little too comfortable in the game,” he said. “We thought we had the game (won).”

Calipari suggested UK was not capable of playing well for 40 minutes at this stage of the season. “We had 20 minutes, we were really good,” he said. “… We probably can play 25 minutes right now.”

Not for the first time, Kentucky struggled to score down the stretch. The Cats missed nine of their last 10 shots and made only one basket in the final 8:12.

This was reminiscent of the struggle down the stretch against Vermont eight days earlier. UK missed seven of its last eight shots in that game.

Even with the offensive struggles, UK players spoke of defense needing attention.

“We were lacking on defense,” Wenyen Gabriel said. “We were focusing on different things. Coach Cal was talking. We weren’t all on the same page. So we weren’t executing right. …

“We weren’t doing the things that got us that lead. That’s kind of the mistakes we’ve been making recently. We’ve got to cut down on them and learn.”

Camp Cal the answer?

Gabriel suggested the upcoming “Camp Cal” period will be instrumental in Kentucky’s hopes for improvement. “Camp Cal” is a period of intense practices during the semester break.

“The big challenge is going to come during Camp Cal,” Gabriel said. “Adversity is going to hit soon. That’s when we’re going to have to come together as a team.

“Camp Cal is when you’re going to get hit in the face. That’s a reboot right there. That’s when the men come out.”

Go-to guy?

When Troy reduced a 63-42 UK lead to 68-59, Calipari called timeout with 2:57 left. The Cats got the ball to Kevin Knox, who drove into the lane and hit a contested turnaround shot.

That Knox scored UK’s only two baskets in the final 9:57 did not seem incidental. When in need of a score, Kentucky had gone to Knox more than once in the early season.

Opinion among UK players seemed divided on whether Knox should be labeled the team’s go-to guy.

“He’s obviously our best scorer right now,” Gabriel said. “We’re just trying to help him out. We’re starting to see him emerge. … Kevin’s really been stepping up.”

But Richards seemed to caution against the assumption that Kentucky is solely dependent on Knox in the clutch.

“Kevin’s a great scorer,” he said. “But at any moment, anybody on the team can go get a bucket and finish the game for us.”

Patience, please

Hamidou Diallo suggested that in time UK will be the team the Big Blue Nation wants.

“It’s going to take some time for us to get to the great chemistry,” he said. “But I think we’re building chemistry every game we play.”

When asked if he sensed impatience from fans, media and coaches, Diallo said, “I’m a basketball player. If you’re not on the court with me, I can’t tell you to wait (or) tell you not to wait. Everybody has their own opinion.

“At the end of the day, we’re about us. And however long it takes to get where we need to get, that’s what it’s going to take.”

‘No’

Calipari suggested — again — that Kentucky players looked for their own at times rather than maintain a team-first approach.

When asked if he sensed UK players thinking of themselves on the court, Diallo was succinct.

“No,” he said.

The reporter followed up with, not at all?

“Nope,” he said.

This story was originally published November 21, 2017 at 12:38 AM with the headline "Fat Cats? Big lead again lulls UK into false sense of security."