Five things you need to know from Kentucky’s 64-63 loss to Notre Dame
Five things you need to know from the Kentucky Wildcats’ 64-63 loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Rupp Arena:
1. A Lexington breakthrough. Notre Dame blew all but one point of a 22-point halftime lead, but held on for its first-ever victory over Kentucky in Lexington.
Until Saturday, the Fighting Irish were 0-8 vs. the Wildcats in UK’s hometown.
Under Coach Mike Brey, Notre Dame has now scored its first-ever victories at Duke’s Cameron Indoor Arena, North Carolina’s Dean Smith Center and UK’s Rupp Arena.
2. Did Kentucky find its identity in half two? With UK already off to a 1-3 start and down 48-26 at halftime Saturday, it was easy to wonder if the Cats were going to even reach 10 wins this season.
But in outscoring Notre Dame 37-16 after halftime, maybe UK “found itself.”
The Cats defense after halftime scrambled and then locked down a veteran Notre Dame squad. In half two, UK held the Fighting Irish to 7-of-25 field-goal shooting, 1-of-10 from three-point range, and forced ND into 12 second-half turnovers.
If UK can consistently generate the defensive intensity and grit it displayed in half two, the Cats can turn their season around.
3. UK needs to “play through” Olivier Sarr offensively. The 7-foot transfer from Wake Forest put the Cats on his back in half two and almost brought Kentucky all the way back from a 22-point halftime deficit.
In half two, Sarr had 14 points and six rebounds. For the game, the Frenchman finished with 22 points and seven boards.
When Kentucky establishes Sarr inside, it both takes pressure off of and opens things up for freshman wings Terrence Clarke and Brandon Boston.
4. “Quarterback change” for UK. John Calipari inserted Creighton graduate transfer Davion Mintz into the Kentucky starting lineup at point guard in place of struggling freshman Devin Askew.
In his first UK start, Mintz — who made 79 career starts at Creighton — went for seven points, three rebounds, four assists and two steals.
On the debit side, he missed all five of his three-point tries and had two turnovers.
Nevertheless, with a veteran at the controls, Kentucky — which was averaging 18.3 turnovers a game entering the Notre Dame contest — had only 11 miscues.
The Cats had more assists (14) than turnovers for the first time since the season-opening win over overmatched Morehead State.
5. First time in 36 years. With the loss, UK is off to its first 1-4 start since the 1984-85 season.
Joe B. Hall’s final team beat Toledo (63-54) in its opener, then lost four straight — 66-56 at Purdue, 56-54 to No. 8 SMU, 81-68 at No. 11 Indiana and 71-64 at No. 14 Louisville.
However, the Kenny Walker-led Cats rallied to sneak into the NCAA Tournament with a 16-12 record as a No. 12 seed.
In the Big Dance, Kentucky upset No. 5 seed Washington (66-58) and No. 4 UNLV (64-61) before falling in the round of 16 to No. 1 St. John’s (86-70).
If the 2020-21 Cats can harness the energy they played with Saturday in half two, they can make something positive out of their season after a 1-4 start, too.
This story was originally published December 12, 2020 at 2:30 PM.
