In a different kind of season, UK losing can still mean ‘there’s hope’
After Kentucky made the wrong kind of history by losing to Notre Dame 64-63 Saturday, John Calipari did not try to minimize the burden his team faces going forward.
“Losing games in a row here is like a natural disaster,” the UK coach said after his team — which is inexperienced even by Kentucky’s freshman-dependent standards — fell to 1-4 on the season. That marked only the second time since 1927 that the proud program lost four of the first five games of a season.
But …
To rally from the largest halftime deficit in a home game in Kentucky basketball history and lose only because Olivier Sarr missed a mid-range jumper in the final seconds can embolden the team, Calipari said.
“Look, there’s hope now,” he said of UK’s second-half resurrection. “If that’s who we are in those 20 minutes, there’s hope.”
After trailing by as many as 24 points twice in the first half, Kentucky evoked memories of the Mardi Gras Miracle of 1993-94 in which the Cats rallied from a 31-point second-half deficit to win at LSU.
This time, there was no miracle as Sarr’s shot in the final seconds bounced off the rim. It was the first time the Irish had beaten Kentucky in Lexington.
“It’s a learning point for me,” said Sarr, who led UK with 22 points and seven rebounds. “I don’t want to forget about that (shot). I’ll remember it.”
Calipari, who set up the shot during a timeout with 7.6 seconds left, lamented the mistiming on the sequence.
“We fumbled the ball,” he said. “If we didn’t fumble, we’d have had the weak-side tip-in.”
Kentucky did rebound Sarr’s miss, but the buzzer sounded before the putback attempt.
“Olivier took it hard,” Calipari said. “But I’m, like, ‘Dude, we’re not even in the game without you.”
As Calipari explained, running the offense through Sarr is a positive step in the development of the UK team.
“So guys shooting 12 percent today from three(-point range) and 30 percent from the floor, you’re not getting the ball as much. I’m sorry. That ball is going to Olivier.”
Nate Laszewski led Notre Dame (2-2) with 21 points.
Without naming names, Calipari said one or two players did not “follow the script” in the first half.
“We were trying not to be negative,” Jacob Toppin said of the mood at halftime. “We wanted to do something special (such as) keep fighting and pushing.”
While Notre Dame controlled the first half as the 48-26 lead at intermission shouted, Kentucky took charge in the final 20 minutes.
Rebounding and defense got the Cats back in the game. Notre Dame made only three of its first 22 shots of the second half.
Of the dramatic change in the second half, Calipari said, “We picked up and pressed and became the aggressor. … Getting into their legs a little bit. Maybe that’s who we are.”
Calipari second-guessed not extending the defense in the first half.
“Maybe we should have,” he said. He didn’t “because I didn’t want the court to be spaced and them getting easy baskets.”
As Calipari has repeatedly requested, Kentucky fought.
Notre Dame, the veteran team on the floor, looked shaky as Kentucky twice reduced the deficit to one point inside the final 90 seconds.
Familiar bugaboos put Kentucky in comeback mode. UK made only one of 13 three-point shots in the first half. And the shot that went in had the look of a fluke. Clarke banked in a three-point shot from the top of the key. It reduced UK’s deficit to 40-22 with 4:11 left in the half.
The other familiar bugaboo? The Cats had five turnovers before the second television timeout. By then, Notre Dame led 28-9.
Laszewski was too much. Taking advantage of matchups with freshmen Brandon Boston and later Isaiah Jackson, he scored 19 points in the first half. He only second-half basket came with 17:48 left.
“I believe we locked in,” Toppin said of UK’s second-half defense. “Starting the game, I don’t think we were very locked in.”
Rebounding helped Kentucky close the gap in the second half. A putback by Sarr closed the deficit to 53-40 with 10:20 left.
The board work brought to mind something Coach Mike Brey said after the Irish lost to Ohio State earlier in the week.
“Can we deliver enough ‘umph’ against Power Five bodies to get enough defensive rebounds?” he asked.
Kentucky also turned up the defense. Notre Dame went scoreless for more than nine minutes. In that time, UK scored 16 points to reduce the deficit to 53-49 and set up another possession-by-possession test of nerves.
“We’ve got a ways to go,” Calipari said. “But (his team made) some strides.”
Next game
Kentucky vs. UCLA
What: CBS Sports Classic
When: 2 p.m. Saturday
Where: Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland
TV: CBS-27
