Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s loss to North Carolina
Takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 75-63 loss to North Carolina on Saturday in the CBS Sports Classic:
1. Bottom line: This Kentucky team has a hard time scoring
For the first time since the end of that dreadful 2012-13 NIT season, the Wildcats have gone five straight games scoring below 70 points. Not by coincidence, all five of those games have been losses. In dropping to 1-5, John Calipari’s club has been nothing if not consistent on the offensive end, scoring 64 against Richmond, 62 against Kansas, 62 against Georgia Tech, 63 against Notre Dame and now 63 against the Tar Heels.
For the fifth straight game, the Cats did not manage to reach 1.0 points per possession, averaging just 0.910 against UNC. After making 43.8 percent of their shots in the first half, the Cats made just seven of 21 shots in the second half for 33.3 percent. They missed all five of their three-point attempts over the final 20 minutes to finish three of 13 from behind the arc. For the season, Kentucky is now 25-for-103 from three-point territory for an anemic 24.3 percent.
What’s the root of the problem? In the first half, with Terrence Clarke playing mainly at the point and Davion Mintz and Brandon Boston on the wings, the offense functioned well. UK led 38-34 at the break. But when foul trouble began to eat away at the Cats’ frontline in the second half, Kentucky’s young players appeared to tighten up. Turnovers followed. So did a steadfast reluctance for the ball to not go in the basket.
Worse still, UK’s best offensive player did not take a shot the entire game. Foul trouble limited Sarr to just 18 minutes before he fouled out with 4:33 remaining. It was just the third time in the Calipari era that a Wildcat had played as many as 18 minutes without taking a shot. Karl-Anthony Towns played 19 minutes without a field-goal attempt on Dec. 13, 2014, against North Carolina. Lance Ware played 19 minutes without a field-goal attempt in this season’s opener Nov. 25 against Morehead.
Sarr has to be more active without fouling. He experienced foul trouble during his career at Wake Forest before transferring to UK. And the problem has persisted. Saturday was the third time in six games in which the 7-footer has had four or more fouls.
2. This Kentucky team is well, not physical
So far, anyway. On the one hand, the Wildcats managed to better North Carolina on the boards 42-38. No small feat. Remember, Roy Williams’ Heels came in to the game outrebounding opponents by an average of 15.5 per contest. Kentucky’s offensive rebounding percentage Saturday was an admirable 37.8 percent on 15 offensive rebounds. North Carolina’s ORP was 34.9 percent off 14 offensive rebounds.
North Carolina claimed the rebounds that mattered most, however. Down 48-43, Carolina’s Armando Bacot tapped out a missed free throw by teammate Garrison Brooks. The ball ended up in the hands of UNC’s Kerwin Walton, who drained a three-point shot to cut Kentucky’s lead to 48-46 with 12:45 remaining.
Then with Carolina up 55-51 with 7:46 remaining, the Heels again tapped out a missed free throw, this time by Leaky Black. UNC tracked down the loose ball and the possession ended up with Black being fouled again. And again, he made the first three throw, missed the second and UNC tapped the ball back out for another offensive rebound.
Here’s the other thing: After showing more intensity in the first half than their previous five games combined, the Cats couldn’t keep it up in the second half. Blame it on the foul trouble. Blame it on the missed shots. Blamed it on the turnovers. (UK committed 16 turnovers to eight assists on the game.) “We let go of the rope,” Calipari said.
Up 49-46 with 12:21 left, Calipari’s club was outscored 29-14 the rest of the way.
3. Stress cracks are starting to show
Kentucky’s immaturity showed up not just during the game, but after the game, as well.
Freshman forward Cam’Ron Fletcher was obviously emotional on the bench to the point where he had to be consoled by his teammates. Calipari said afterward that Fletcher was upset he didn’t get more playing time — he played three minutes — and apologized to the team in the locker room afterward.
“You’ve got to accept your position on this team, whatever minutes you get,” Calipari said. “Cam was mad he didn’t play more. I’m like, ‘The guys in front of you are playing.’ Lance (Ware) played out of his mind. I thought Devin (Askew) played better.”
As well, Keion Brooks was the lone player available for postgame interviews. Still out with an injury, Brooks did not play Saturday. Asked why he was taking questions, Brooks said that none of this teammates felt “up to it” so he took it on being one of the “leaders” on the team.
“Just defending my teammates, that’s all I’m out there to do,” Brooks said.
Kentucky’s freshmen have all experienced nothing but success up to this point. They were all highly recruited. They are all not used to losing. Now being part of a team that has posted the program’s worst start since 1926-27 — they were still throwing the ball up for the center jump after every basket in 1926-27 — is obviously wearing on the psyche of this young team.
UK: Terrence Clarke did not leave the bench early
In an earlier version of the Takeaways, I referenced Calipari being asked after the game about UK’s Terrence Clarke apparently leaving the bench before the game was over. After turning an ankle earlier in the game, Clarke had fouled out. Calipari’s answer seemed to confirm that Clarke did leave, but Eric Lindsey, UK sports information contact for basketball, tweeted Saturday night that Clarke did not leave the bench.
Previous takeaways
Kentucky’s 64-63 loss to Notre Dame
Kentucky’s 79-62 loss to Georgia Tech
Kentucky’s 65-62 loss to Kansas
Kentucky’s 76-64 loss to Richmond
Kentucky’s 81-45 win over Morehead State
This story was originally published December 19, 2020 at 6:37 PM.
