What have we learned about this Kentucky basketball team? Don’t believe the hype.
Kentucky basketball traveled a long way Sunday night to find out it has a long way to go.
How long? That’s yet to be determined. Still, there was nothing in Kentucky’s 88-72 loss to the No. 2-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs that made you think this particular John Calipari team was close to living up to the summer hype festival or the No. 4 preseason ranking.
Instead, after the 9-16 COVID campaign and the first-round NCAA Tournament loss to No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s last March, the 3-2 Wildcats have squandered a couple of early-season opportunities to crush the program-in-decline narrative and send Cats-are-back signals across the college basketball landscape.
First there was that loss to Michigan State. You know, that double overtime Champions Classic defeat last Tuesday in Indianapolis. Both at the end of regulation and again at the end of the first overtime, basic defensive failures cost the Cats the victory. When it mattered most, Michigan State was the more disciplined and better-coached team.
Sunday night in Spokane, however, the Cats were bad from start to finish. Oh, there were a couple of positive spurts in the second half when Kentucky appeared it just might make the game more interesting. (It trailed 49-45 with 13:07 left.) In the end, however, the Cats lacked a ladder tall enough to climb out of their deep hole.
Still stinging from a 19-point spanking at Texas, Mark Few’s Zags were ready to rip. They scored the game’s first eight points and 19 of the first 25. By halftime, Gonzaga enjoyed a well-earned 16-point cushion at 41-25. That ranked as Kentucky’s largest halftime deficit in a non-COVID season game since UK was punked by Zion Williamson and the Duke Blue Devils in the 2018 Champions Classic in Indy. Down 17 at the halftime horn on that house-of-horrors night, the Cats lost by 34.
This time, the final margin remained 16. Not much consolation there, however. Kentucky shot 25 percent in the first half, 39.1 percent for the game. It made just six of its 25 three-point attempts — after going 7-of-25 versus Michigan State — was outrebounded 34-24 and watched a more confident and aggressive Gonzaga shoot 55.2 percent from the floor.
Get this (part one): Kentucky did not block a single Gonzaga shot all night.
Get this (part two): Kentucky is now 3-7 in its last 10 games against ranked opponents.
In the postgame press conference, senior forward Jacob Toppin questioned Kentucky’s effort and fight, especially early. To me, however, the Cats just look (a) confused and (b) taken aback by Gonzaga’s will and skill.
Calipari blamed the first-half fiasco on a lack of preparation time.
“I couldn’t get Oscar (Tshiebwe) to run the plays right,” the coach explained. “You know why? He hasn’t been practicing with us.”
That smacked of a cop-out. Yes, arthroscopic knee surgery forced Tshiebwe to miss practice time and a pair of games, but hasn’t the big man been in the program since January 2021? Didn’t he play in the team’s four summer exhibition games in the Bahamas? And why was Calipari running sets that his star center supposedly couldn’t remember?
Next question: Isn’t this Calipari’s most experienced team at UK? Yes. Didn’t he have a full complement of players Sunday night? Yes. Backed by a raucous home crowd, didn’t Gonzaga play harder and smarter with better execution? Yes, again.
OK, time for the required disclaimer: It’s early. It’s November early. Some Twitter types have pointed out that since 1985 only two teams (Louisville in 1986; Kansas in 1988) suffered multiple November losses before cutting down the nets on championship night in April. Every season and every tournament tells its own story, however. Tendencies are made to be broken.
Still, after a pair of games against formidable foes, it’s obvious there is more work to be done with this Kentucky basketball team than expected. Early-season injuries and absences have played a role, but the trouble spots go beyond that. And it’s Calipari’s job to find which buttons to push.
“We’re a ways away,” the coach admitted Sunday night.
Who said travel isn’t educational?
