Keion Brooks asks how much more can UK learn after yet another loss
Another Kentucky game. Another Kentucky stumble and bumble down the stretch. Another Kentucky loss.
If you’re still keeping score at home, the 82-71 come-from-ahead loss to No. 11 Tennessee on Saturday added to an already depressing set of numbers: 5-12 record (4-6 in the Southeastern Conference) and 2-8 against opponents either ranked or receiving votes in The Associated Press Top 25 poll.
Kentucky did not add to its 2-6 record in games decided by seven or fewer points. But that’s only because the cratering in the final minutes was more depressing even by UK’s knack for dispiriting play this season.
Perhaps seeking a silver lining, a reporter asked the lone bright spot, Keion Brooks, if experiencing the current travails might benefit Kentucky, say, next season.
“I mean, no,” Brooks said. “We’ve lost so much, how much can we keep on learning from doing all this losing? We have the same conversations over and over again. We still end up not winning games when we should. There is some type of value in it going forward. To have that experience. To not want to feel this way again.
“But for the most part, you know, losing sucks.”
One supposed common denominator in UK continually snatching defeat from the jaws of victory was the lack of a go-to guy.
Brooks’ play all but shouted follow me. He scored a career-high 23 points.
“I thought he was great today,” UK Coach John Calipari said. “Not only did he score, he rebounded.”
Brooks’ 11 boards were also a career high.
“Yes, we just went right at him and said create,” Calipari said of Brooks.
But Tennessee, which improved to 13-4 overall and 6-4 in the SEC, took notice.
“They crowded him,” Calipari said of Brooks scoring his last points with 7:50 left. “He threw it out. And he was begging guys to shoot balls. He was in the huddle saying, ‘Shoot the ball!’”
Calipari linked the reluctance to Brandon Boston (2-11, 0-2), Davion Mintz (1-8, 0-4) and Dontaie Allen (1-6, 1-5) combining to make four of 25 shots (one of 11 from three-point range).
“They wouldn’t let me catch the ball in the post,” Brooks said of the Vols’ late defense. “And if I did catch it, they brought a lot of help-side.”
The latest late-game collapse came after Kentucky built its largest lead — 58-48 — with 11:58 remaining. Tennessee outscored the Cats 36-13 thereafter. That spurt included a 12-0 run that put Kentucky behind 74-64 with less than four minutes left.
Eleven second-half turnovers contributed to a startling turnaround from the first to second halves.
Brooks dismissed the notion that Kentucky players might feel trepidation when entering the make-or-break final minutes of games.
“We’re just not executing,” he said. “Not because of nervousness. When stuff starts to hit the fan, we don’t know how to snap back. I don’t think anybody was scared of pissing down their leg or anything.”
A pair of freshmen led Tennessee to victory. Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer combined for 50 points. Johnson’s 27 were a career high. Springer added 23.
“They were the best two guards on the court …,” Calipari said. “Because they were physical and they bullied us. It wasn’t like they were jacking up threes and going nuts. They just went wherever they wanted on the court.”
Tennessee’s veteran core — big man John Fulkerson, forward Yves Pons and point guard Santiago Vescovi — combined to make four of 14 shots and score nine points.
The first half could hardly have gone better for Kentucky.
UK committed only two turnovers. Both were dead-ball turnovers — a walk by Brooks and a charge by Olivier Sarr — so no fast-break opportunities for Tennessee.
Tennessee got into immediate and severe foul trouble. Before the first television timeout, Fulkerson and Vescovi each had two fouls.
In what might have been a record, Kentucky shot its first one-and-one at the 14:09 mark. UK was eligible for the double bonus when Tennessee committed its 10th foul with 10 minutes left in the half.
Further helping Kentucky was the near invisibility of Tennessee’s three on-court leaders. Pons, Fulkerson and Vescovi combined to make one of six shots and score two points in the first half. This from a trio that came into the game averaging a combined 29.1 points. Fulkerson and Vescovi played three and seven minutes, respectively.
A 12-2 mini-run in the final five-plus minutes gave Kentucky a 42-34 halftime lead.
Brooks scored the final five points to complete an 11-point half. That topped his average of 10.1 points coming into the game.
The beginning of the second half was the polar opposite of the first. Kentucky was the team that got called for multiple fouls. UK had six fouls by the first TV timeout. With the lead at 48-41, the prospect of another test of Kentucky’s ability to execute in the final minutes of a game loomed.
Tennessee got as close as 50-46. Then Brooks responded in emphatic fashion. He drove for a basket that gave him 17 points, two more than his previous career high.
Brooks followed up with a putback and a pull-up jumper in the lane.
When Boston dunked on a fast break set up by a Tennessee turnover, Kentucky led 58-48 with 11:58 left. Tennessee called timeout.
It worked. The 10-point lead turned out to be a zenith for Kentucky. The Vols scored the next 12 points. Johnson scored six of those, including a layup that put Tennessee ahead 60-58 with 8:39 left. That was the Vols’ first lead since the 5:41 mark of the first half.
Then Kentucky went scoreless for more than four minutes, a span that included two turnovers, Brooks having a three-point shot blocked from behind and Boston clanging a driving dunk off the back of the rim.
In that time, Tennessee scored 12 straight points to take a 74-64 lead into the final 3:13.
“All of a sudden turnover, turnover, (Tennessee) layup, layup, (Kentucky) bad shot, bad shot,” Calipari said. “I’m at a loss for words.”
Kentucky had two turnovers in the first half, then added four more before the first television timeout of the second half.
“Just throwing crazy passes …,” Calipari said. “We can’t be that team.”
Next game
Arkansas at Kentucky
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday
TV: ESPN
