Unable to get its shots to drop, Kentucky keeps going down, down, down
It was a clean jump shot from the right baseline, contested but not hindered. Seconds to go, the outcome on the line, Kentucky’s Olivier Sarr rose, fired, then watched. The basketball circled the rim — teasingly looking as if it would drop into the net — only to spin some more.
It spun around, but would not go down.
The story of Kentucky’s season, so achingly far.
Another head-spinner: Kentucky is 1-6.
In basketball.
The Louisville Cardinals continued the misery tour for John Calipari’s Cats at the KFC Yum Center on Saturday. U of L 62, UK 59. Grad transfer guard Carlik Jones scored 20 points, former Louisville Trinity star David Johnson added 17 as Louisville Coach Chris Mack recorded his first win on his third try in the rivalry series, sending Kentucky to it sixth straight defeat on the season.
“Let me say this again, losing stinks,” said Calipari, who argued his struggling young team made progress only to end up with the same empty feeling it has experienced since beating Morehead State by 36 points in the opener on Nov. 25.
The same could be said for Sarr, the 7-foot transfer from Wake Forest who also missed the potential game-winner with his team down a point against visiting Notre Dame two weeks ago. The shot against the Irish was also a jumper from the right baseline, a good look that refused to drop in a 64-63 defeat.
Saturday, UK trailed 60-59 with eight seconds left. Forced to foul after the Sarr miss, the Cats watched Jones make both free throws with 5.1 remaining. When Brandon Boston’s three-point heave missed at the buzzer, Louisville had sealed the deal.
“Olivier makes 100-plus shots from that spot every day,” said teammate Jacob Toppin.
“Buzzard’s luck,” said Calipari.
Kentucky’s undoing Saturday had more to do with repetition than luck. Bad offense, poor shooting and key breakdowns. Entering the game shooting 42.6 from the floor, the Cats shot just 34.5 percent Saturday. That included 5-of-17 from beyond the three-point line. The foul line was little help either. UK made just 14 of its 22 free throws for 63.6 percent. It was the sixth straight game the Cats failed to reach the 70-point mark. All six have been losses. No coincidence there.
Davion Mintz, the grad transfer from Creighton, led Kentucky with 19 points. He was responsible for four of the team’s five makes from three-point range. But the 6-foot-1 guard’s last basket came at the 4:38 mark, his last points at 4:11. On the next-to-last possession, with UK down 60-59, Calipari said the option was to go to Mintz or Sarr.
“Two guys went with Davion,” Calipari said of Louisville’s defense, “so he went to Olivier.”
“Most of that is my fault,” Mintz said afterward. “I wasn’t more assertive to get the ball. I take credit for why I didn’t get the ball down the stretch.”
There were bright spots. Toppin needs more playing time. Isaiah Jackson provided an early second-half lift. Lance Ware was aggressive, Devin Askew effective for a good part of the game.
But those projected to be stars have yet to shine. Boston scored 11 points Saturday, but was 3-of-11 from the floor. Terrence Clarke was limited to 16 minutes by an ankle injury. And Sarr, Third Team All-ACC a year ago, has played 40 minutes over his last two games without making a field goal.
Calipari said of Sarr: “I have faith in Olivier.”
Calipari also said: “I’m not giving up on this team.”
Still, the biggest surprise in all of college basketball is that on Dec. 26, Kentucky is 1-6.
The reason is no surprise, however. It doesn’t matter how tall you are, or how long you are, or how high you can jump, or fast you can run, at some point you have to put the ball in the basket. It’s the most fundamental aspect of the game.
And until Kentucky figures out a way to get shots to fall, it is going to keep falling. Down.
