Looking at Kentucky basketball’s crunch-time collapses in excruciating detail
Wednesday night’s 75-70 loss at Missouri was just one more example of how this Kentucky basketball team has failed to play winning basketball at the crunch time.
“We’ve been working on the final four minutes of the game,” said UK Coach John Calipari before his team made the trip to Columbia.
And yet the coach, his team now 5-11, hasn’t found a way to fix the problems in the game’s final minutes that have plagued the Cats all season long.
Examples, in excruciating detail:
Dec. 1 vs. Kansas in the Champions Classic
Score with four minutes left: Kentucky 53, Kansas 51.
After Brandon Boston made both ends of a one-and-one with 4:19 left, the Jayhawks went on a 9-2 run to take a 60-55 lead with 2:26 remaining. UK pulled to within 62-59 on a Boston drive off the glass with 1:19 left. And a three-pointer by Davion Mintz with 12 seconds left cut Kansas’ lead to 63-62. But the Jayhawks’ Ochai Agbaji made two free throws with 10.7 seconds left to put Kansas back up by three. And Mintz missed a three from the left wing that would have sent the game to overtime.
Final: Kansas 65, Kentucky 62.
Dec. 12 vs. Notre Dame
Score with four minutes left: Notre Dame 58, Kentucky 51.
After a disastrous first half — the Cats trailed 48-26 at intermission — UK fought back to pull within a point on a Terrence Clarke bucket with 1:28 left. After Notre Dame milked the clock, the Irish’s Prentiss Hubb scored off a drive from the left wing to put the visitors up 64-61 with 57 seconds left. UK’s Olivier Sarr answered at the other end with 41 seconds left to cut it to 64-63. Notre Dame committed a shot clock violation giving the ball back to Kentucky with 11.4 seconds left. Calipari called timeout with 7.6 seconds left, but Sarr’s jumper from the right corner missed at the buzzer.
Final: Notre Dame 64, Kentucky 63.
Dec. 26 at Louisville
Score with four minutes left: Louisville 57, Kentucky 54.
Isaiah Jackson’s jam off a rebound pulled UK to within 57-56 with 3:25 left. Louisville’s Carlik Jones banked in a jumper from the circle with 2:52 left to put the Cards up 59-56. Boston sank two free throws with 2:34 left to cut the lead to 59-58. Jackson made the second of two free throws with 1:05 left to tie the game at 59, but UK would not score again. Devin Askew missed a three from the top of the key. Down 60-59, Sarr’s jumper from the right baseline did everything but go down. Louisville’s Jones made two free throws with 5.1 seconds left. And Boston missed a rushed three from the right wing at the buzzer.
Final: Louisville 62, Kentucky 59.
Jan. 16 at Auburn
Score with four minutes left: Auburn 58, Kentucky 50.
Kentucky actually cut the Auburn lead to 58-56 on an Askew drive with 1:39 left. From there, the two teams traded baskets. When Askew missed the second of two free throws with 28.3 seconds left, Auburn led 62-59. The Tigers’ JT Thor made two free throws with 18.7 seconds remaining to give Auburn a 64-59 lead. Dontaie Allen missed a three from the left corner. Auburn’s Allen Flanigan made two free throws with 10.2 seconds left to extend the lead back to seven points.
Final: Auburn 66, Kentucky 59.
Jan. 20 at Georgia
Score with four minutes left: Kentucky 58, Georgia 52.
The Cats were outscored 11-4 the rest of the way. After a Jackson jumper in the lane put the Cats up 62-56 with 2:01 left, UK did not score the rest of the way. Askew lost the ball. Boston missed an off-balance shot off a short drive. And with 23.5 seconds left, with UK up 62-61, Askew missed the front end of the bonus. Georgia’s P.J. Horne scored on an inbounds pass with one second left to give the Bulldogs the victory.
Final: Georgia 63, Kentucky 62.
Jan. 26 at Alabama
Score with four minutes left: Kentucky 54, Alabama 52.
The Cats were outscored 18-5 over the final 3:32. After a Mintz three-pointer put UK up 54-52 with 4:27 left, the Wildcats went five straight possessions without a point. Allen missed a three-point shot from the right corner. Boston lost the ball. Mintz missed a deep three from the top of the key. Jackson threw the ball away. Allen missed from the right baseline, and Mintz’s second-chance shot was blocked. By that time, Alabama had taken a 62-54 lead with 46.9 seconds left.
Final: Alabama 70, Kentucky 59.
Feb. 3 at Missouri
Score with four minutes left: Missouri 68, Kentucky 65.
Kentucky was outscored 7-5 rest of the way. After Mintz’s three-pointer with 4:56 left cut Mizzou’s lead to three, UK went four straight possessions without scoring. Mintz was called for a charging foul. Jackson missed the front end of the bonus. Mintz committed a turnover when his lob pass was too low for Jackson. Askew committed a turnover with a pass out of bounds. Meanwhile, Missouri scored six straight points to take a 74-65 lead with 2:05 left.
Final: Missouri 75, Kentucky 70.
This story was originally published February 4, 2021 at 1:13 PM.
