Three takeaways as Kentucky suffers a bad loss at South Carolina
Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 81-78 loss at South Carolina on Wednesday night:
1. This was bad loss No. 3 for this Kentucky team
No way around it. Yes, it was a road game. Yes, it was an SEC game. Yes, it came on a three-point bank shot at the buzzer. And yes, you bet ya, it was at Columbia’s Colonial Life Arena, a recent house of horrors for John Calipari and his merry band of Wildcats.
And yet there’s no getting around the fact the Gamecocks (9-7) entered the contest on a three-game losing streak and ranked No. 121 in the latest NCAA NET computer rankings, or that they were No. 101 in Jeff Sagarin’s computer rankings, or that Frank Martin’s team was No. 187 in adjusted offensive efficiency according to Ken Pomeroy’s analytics.
After shooting a dreadful 24.3 percent from the floor in the first half, Carolina shot 55.6 percent the second. The Gamecocks rallied from a 14-point deficit by scoring 56 points in second half. A team that just two weeks back lost at home to Stetson — “An embarrassment,” Martin called it — found a way to knock off a Kentucky team that had climbed to No. 10 in the rankings.
So UK has now lost three games to teams ranked in the triple digits by kenpom — Evansville at No. 261, Utah at No. 112 and South Carolina at No. 100.
2. Bad boards and bad defense equal a bad loss
We’re so used to seeing a Calipari team crash the boards game in and game out, year in and year out, it’s a little jarring to see the Cats struggle so much on the glass. It happened again Wednesday. South Carolina grabbed an eye-popping 20 offensive rebounds, compared to 31 defensive boards for UK, which figures to a 39.2 percent offensive rebounding percentage. (Counting the 16 to Alabama, UK has allowed 36 offensive rebounds the last two games.) The Cats meanwhile grabbed just 10 offensive boards compared to South Carolina’s 23 defensive boards, a ORP of 30.3 recent.
And when Kentucky was failing to grab the ball of the glass, the Cats were giving up straight-line drives to the Gamecocks, who gained momentum and confidence the final 10 minutes of the second half.
In fact, South Carolina made just two three-pointers during that time a triple by Justin Minaya at the 3:41 mark that put USC up 71-70 and the final winning three by Jermaine Couisnard that banked in over Nick Richards outstretched but late arm at the buzzer. The rest of South Carolina’s points came on drives to the basket, fast-break layups off UK turnovers, dunks or free throws.
Afterward Calipari cited a lack of discipline from his team, especially on the defensive end. But Martin preaches toughness and South Carolina was the tougher team as Kentucky seemed to get swallowed up in the momentum, the Gamecocks’ home crowd and chaos of those final minutes.
3. It doesn’t get any easier down or on the road
OK, UK let this one slip away. That happens. And as mentioned, Calipari has had his troubles in Columbia. He has now lost four times in this city — 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2020 — since becoming the Kentucky coach.
The thing is given UK’s upcoming road scheduled, it’s going to be difficult to make up for this one in the future. The Wildcats travel to Arkansas on Saturday. Calipari’s record in Bud Walton Arena is 2-3 as the Kentucky coach. And new coach Eric Musselman has revitalized the Razorbacks.
The following Saturday (Jan. 25), Kentucky plays Texas Tech in Lubbock as part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. You don’t think Lubbock will be fired up to see the Cats come to town. Everybody’s Super Bowl and all that. Plus, Red Raiders head coach Chris Beard is one of the best defensive coaches in the country. As Calipari likes to say, that will be a hard game.
The Saturday after that (Feb. 1), UK travels to Auburn to face the Tigers, who took an unbeaten record into Wednesday night’s game at Alabama. That’s the same Auburn that beat Kentucky in the finals of the NCAA Midwest Regional.
And we’re not even talking about road games at LSU and Florida down the road. Yes, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Texas A&M, a trio that also gets Kentucky at home, are no great shakes. But, hey, South Carolina was considered no great shakes either.
Neither was Evansville or Utah.
This story was originally published January 15, 2020 at 10:55 PM.
