Kentucky finds bright side in early exit from SEC Tournament as topsy-turvy season goes on
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SEC Tournament game day: Vanderbilt 80, No. 23 Kentucky 73
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Friday night’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Vanderbilt at the SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tenn.
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Kentucky’s roller coaster of a basketball season didn’t straighten out Friday night.
Why would it at this point?
A Wildcats team that has experienced more ups and downs than just about any in recent memory hit another bump in the road in its postseason opener, an 80-73 loss to Vanderbilt in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
This defeat came immediately after the Cats traveled to Fayetteville and — without a point guard — managed to upset the Arkansas Razorbacks on their home court. That victory came three days after the same Vanderbilt team that beat Kentucky in the SEC Tournament ruined the Wildcats’ Senior Night in Rupp Arena. And so on.
UK will hear its name called Sunday evening, when the NCAA Tournament field is revealed. That was in doubt a month ago, before the Cats — on the wrong side of the bubble then — won four straight games to right their season at just the right time.
John Calipari and his Wildcats have been talking for the past couple of months about writing their own story. And which Kentucky team shows up in March Madness will be the story of this season.
On Friday night, some of the same foibles that have haunted these Cats flared back up.
UK made just 11 of 20 free throws. Vandy was 18-for-20, outscoring the Cats at the line by seven points, the final margin of victory. Kentucky gave up drive after drive at the perimeter, allowing the Commodores to get into the paint and score. The Cats had trouble defending the three-point shot, especially in the first half, then couldn’t make their own threes on the other end, going just 6-for-25 from deep.
In the end, Vandy made big shots at opportune times. Kentucky, not so much.
“They hit dagger plays,” UK’s Jacob Toppin said. “We couldn’t hit dagger plays. That’s why they won the game.”
The defeat dropped Kentucky to 21-11 on the season. The Cats are now 1-4 in their last five SEC Tournament games. But this isn’t the tournament that matters. The one that does begins next week, and if there’s any silver lining to UK’s early departure from Nashville, it’s that this battered roster will now have two extra days — and two fewer games of wear and tear — to get ready for the big one.
“It sucks losing. Obviously, we wanted to win,” Toppin said. “But, yeah, you can look at the bright side and say we have more time for guys to get healthy, work on their bodies. We can watch film, understand what we gotta get better at so we can be ready for the tournament.”
Another plus for Kentucky: freshman point guard Cason Wallace returned to the court Friday night. Wallace sat out the Arkansas game last weekend after hurting his ankle in that loss to Vanderbilt in UK’s home finale.
Wallace, a projected NBA lottery pick, could have sat out Friday’s game, too. He didn’t. Why not take the extra rest to get ready for the NCAA Tournament?
“Because I want to play every game I can,” Wallace said. “I feel like I’m a good piece to the team, and I’ll do whatever I can to help us win. … I feel like if I can play, I’m gonna play. I’m not gonna sit out a game that I can play in.”
Wallace played 37 minutes Friday night. He limped to the bench at one point after knocking knees with a Vanderbilt player but — after getting some treatment there — was right back on the court after the next timeout. Physically, he said he’d be fine for UK’s NCAA Tournament opener.
“More than anything, I’m upset that we lost,” he said. “I’m all right, though.”
CJ Fredrick continued to play through a painful rib injury, logging 14 minutes off the bench. Toppin also suffered an undisclosed injury earlier in the week — Calipari said he practiced just once before Friday’s game — and managed 21 points and 11 rebounds in 38 minutes.
Sahvir Wheeler remained sidelined for the ninth straight game. Wheeler injured his ankle last month and hasn’t played since. He also had a “minor procedure” — that was Calipari’s description — unrelated to his ankle injury last week that extended his recovery timeline. The UK coach did say that Wheeler “went through some practice stuff” earlier in the week.
“So I think he’s getting closer,” Calipari said. “Hopefully he’s going to be able to give us some minutes.”
Obviously, time is running out. And from here on out, one loss ends the season.
Calipari said after Friday’s defeat that this Kentucky team plays better when they have nothing to lose.
“You can’t worry about how you’re playing, missing a shot,” he said. “You just lock into the team, do what the team needs you to do. When we play that way, we’re as good as anybody in the country.”
When it was pointed out that some of Kentucky’s biggest wins this season have come after losses, Calipari smiled for the first time all night.
“That’s what we’re going to talk about right there,” he said. “Every time we’ve taken a spill — and the whole country jumps on us — it seems like they come back with a vengeance. That is the plan. We got beat. And some of the games we got beat, it’s not like we got beat by a hundred. It’s a bucket here or a bucket there, and you get beat.
“But learning how to win is a big part of this, too. We’ve won some really good games against really good teams.”
Moving forward, that’s the only thing that will keep Kentucky’s season going.
This story was originally published March 11, 2023 at 1:44 AM.
