Kentucky’s problem after back to back losses? ‘Nothing too big.’
Kentucky has lost more than two games in a row only once in John Calipari’s 11 seasons as coach. With a game against archrival Louisville straight ahead, fixing problems was a topic repeatedly turned to after UK was defeated 71-65 by Ohio State on Saturday night.
While that might spell trouble for many in Big Blue Nation, UK sounded encouraged by competing evenly with the Buckeyes.
“We’re still learning,” Calipari said. “But if this is who we are, we’ll be fine.”
Ashton Hagans echoed that sentiment when asked what problems the Wildcats needed to fix.
“There’s nothing too big,” he said. “I would say just coming together more, having each other’s back more, helping each other out.
“But, other than that, I think we’re getting it. Everyone’s getting their role, coming into it.”
Calipari and Hagans spoke of the need to pass more and make the game more of a collective effort.
Nate Sestina, who led UK with 17 points (equaling a career high of five three-pointers), saw significant improvement since the beginning of the season.
“From the beginning of the year until now, we have really improved our toughness,” he said. “You saw guys getting chippy. Guys were bumping guys around, diving on the floor. …
“I think we were starting to click, and we’re, like, two or three possessions away from really getting this thing going.”
As for losing streaks longer than two games, it happened in February 2018 when Kentucky lost at Missouri, to Tennessee and at Texas A&M and Auburn.
Christmas break
UK players and staff went their separate ways after the game. Calipari said nine of the players took different flights home.
Of Johnny Juzang, Calipari said, “Johnny’s got the shorter trip to L.A. He’s laughing, ‘I’ll be home in 30 minutes.’ The rest of us got long flights.”
The players are due back in Lexington for a 6 p.m. practice Christmas night.
“I grabbed each of them individually …, maybe gave them a critique a little bit,” Calipari said. “I said, ‘Go have fun with your family. We’ll deal with it when we come back.”
When asked if it might be beneficial to step away from basketball for a few days, Calipari quipped, “Good for me. I know that. I don’t know if it’s good for them.”
A Christmas break has been part of his coaching routine for years, Calipari said. He added that the NCAA now mandates a break.
“I thought it was an advantage for us,” the UK coach said. “Because we were playing teams that were given no Christmas break. … So, now it’s no longer an advantage.”
Hagans breaks mold
Ohio State had limited the opposition’s leading scorer to 32 percent shooting overall (41 of 128) and 24.4 percent on threes (11 of 45). These players came into the game against Ohio State averaging 15.1 points. Against the Buckeyes, those players combined to average 10.3 points.
Hagans’ 14 points Saturday was at his average (13.9) coming into the game. His nine assists and two turnovers made for a better ratio than the 2.1-to-1 he had going into the contest (71 assists, 34 turnovers).
It’s a competition …
Not a coronation.
Calipari reminded listeners of that when asked about Sestina not taking a three-point shot in the game’s final 14:08. Sestina did not score in that span.
The UK coach pointed out that Ohio State made an adjustment in its defense on the pick-and-pop action that got Sestina open shots.
“They switched and did some stuff,” Calipari said.
When asked if this meant Ohio State took Sestina out of Kentucky’s offense, Calipari said, “Yeah. And that guy can coach, too.”
Of course, that guy is Ohio State Coach Chris Holtmann. He deflected credit for the Buckeyes’ victory. “Players win games like this,” he said.
Sestina’s brother
One fan in T-Mobile Arena surely was especially cheered by Sestina’s breakout performance.
That would be one of his brothers. Andrew Sestina, a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps., drove from Camp Pendleton in the San Diego, Calif., area to Las Vegas for the games here. That’s a 293-mile trip.
Sestina said his brother noted how many UK fans were in Las Vegas.
“My brother pointed out to me, ‘You guys travel well,’” Sestina said on Friday.
Beating UK
Holtmann grew up in Lexington and Nicholasville. This was the first time he’s been the head coach in a game against UK.
“It was really about our players executing,” he said. “And that’s what I tried to lose myself in.”
This story was originally published December 21, 2019 at 10:32 PM.
