This Kentucky basketball team is way too familiar with head-scratching losses
Just when we think we have this Kentucky basketball team all figured out, the Wildcats go out and slip on a banana peel.
Or did they slip on the wrappers from the Bojangles biscuits the South Carolina cheerleaders tossed into the crowd at Colonial Life Arena on Wednesday night?
Or maybe it was the parachutes that dropped out of the ceiling delivering Chick-fil-A to the Gamecocks faithful?
“I’m glad our team got a reward for its effort tonight,” said South Carolina Coach Frank Martin after USC’s Jermaine Couisnard banked in a three-point shot at the buzzer to give the Gamecocks an 81-78 win over the 10th-ranked Cats.
Meanwhile Kentucky’s reward was another trip back to the drawing board after suffering its third defeat to a team ranked 100 or lower in Ken Pomeroy’s efficiency analytics — South Carolina at No. 102; Utah at No. 112 and Evansville at (ugh) No. 261.
“I’ll have to watch the tape,” said UK Coach John Calipari more than once during his postgame press conference as if he, too, wasn’t quite sure what happened when his team blew a 14-point lead over the game’s final 15 minutes.
When Cal did work up the courage to hit the start button on his video machine, what he saw was a lot of bad defense, bad rebounding and bad decisions.
After shooting a miserable 24.3 percent the first half, the Gamecocks suddenly caught fire to shoot 55.6 percent the second half. Martin’s club topped UK 43-41 on the boards, but more importantly grabbed a staggering 20 offensive rebounds. And the visitors committed 15 turnovers compared to just nine for the home team.
“We called the same play three times and had three turnovers,” said Calipari. “A guy did his own thing.”
Raise your glass to the Gamecocks. (After all, South Carolina does sell alcohol in its general seating areas during hoop events.) It’s to the point now where my eyes automatically glaze over when a coach talks about toughness, but the Men of Martin were undeniably the tougher team Wednesday night.
And OK, so the Cats let one slip away. It happens. Especially on the road. Previously unbeaten Auburn lost at archrival Alabama on Wednesday. UK’s meltdown mania among the Carolina chaos shouldn’t be that big a shock considering that Calipari has now lost four times in Columbia — 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2020.
But here’s the thing, South Carolina was supposed to be the easiest task of this six-game stretch that includes four road games — the Wednesday matchup at Carolina; this Saturday at Arkansas, Jan. 25 at Texas Tech and Feb. 1 at Auburn.
That’s the same Arkansas now 14-2 overall and 3-1 in the SEC since first-year coach Eric Musselman arrived to rejuvenate the Razorbacks. That’s the same Texas Tech that will be stoked when Kentucky arrives in Lubbock for the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. You know, everybody’s Super Bowl and all that. That’s the same Auburn that had won 27 of its last 28 games, dating back to last season, before Bruce Pearl’s Tigers were tripped up in Tuscaloosa.
Meanwhile, Kentucky (12-4 overall and 3-1 in the SEC) has a resume that includes more stains than highlights, i.e. the wins over Michigan State and Louisville.
Out on the concourse during halftime Wednesday, I overheard several South Carolina fans complaining about their Gamecocks, who trailed 31-25. Said one, “And (Kentucky’s) not that good.”
There’s still plenty of time to change that opinion. There are two games left with Auburn, the only other SEC team in the AP Top 25. There’s the aforementioned trip to Texas Tech. There’s a Feb. 18 visit to LSU, the only SEC team unbeaten in conference play. And there are a pair of games with unpredictable Florida who could either be playing terrific or terrible, you never know. Neither does Gators’ Coach Mike White.
“We’ve shown we’re a resilient team,” said UK forward Nate Sestina on Wednesday, pointing to the way the Cats picked themselves up after losses to Evansville and Utah.
At least they’re getting plenty of practice.
This story was originally published January 16, 2020 at 4:48 PM.
