Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s win over Florida A&M
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Game day: No. 19 Kentucky 88, Florida A&M 68
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Wednesday’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Florida A&M in Rupp Arena.
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Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 88-68 win over Florida A&M on Wednesday night at Rupp Arena.
1. So much for the expected blowout
So much for the tweak. After last Saturday’s 63-53 loss to UCLA at Madison Square Garden, John Calipari said he was thinking about changing things up. And he did just that on Wednesday, using a different starting lineup. Lance Ware and Chris Livingston started. Jacob Toppin and Antonio Reeves came off the bench. The results were underwhelming, however.
A 38.5-point favorite against a team that ranked 358 out of 362 Division I teams by kenpom, Kentucky led just 42-32 at the half 69-62 with 6:08 remaining. That seven-point advantage was after Florida A&M (2-8) had scored 14 straight points.
The Rattlers entered the game shooting 34.5 percent from the floor. Against Kentucky, they went 26 of 50 from the floor for 52 percent. The Rattlers entered the game shooting 26.8 percent from three-point range. Against Kentucky, they were 9 of 16 from beyond the arc for 56.3 percent.
“This is clearly the best we’ve shot the ball all year,” Florida A&M Coach Robert McCullum said.
“We didn’t defend tonight,” Calipari said. “I had to ask the guys at halftime, do you know their two guys scoring the points? What are their numbers? Why are you leaving them?”
How did the new starters do on offense? Livingston ended up with eight points, two rebounds and zero assists in 15 minutes. Ware had four points and five rebounds in 19 minutes.
2. Thank goodness for Cason Wallace
Calipari left freshman Cason Wallace in the starting lineup, and the 6-foot-4 freshman from Dallas was clearly the best player on the floor. He finished with 27 points and nine assists. After going 2 of 13 from the floor, including 1 of 7 from three, against UCLA, Wallace was 10 of 15 from the floor and 5 of 6 from three.
After that lackluster first half, Wallace scored Kentucky’s first seven points of the second half as a 9-2 run pushed the Cats’ lead to 51-34. After the Rattlers pulled within seven, Wallace scored on a drive to put the cats up nine. And Wallace’s three-pointer with 1:24 left made it 85-68, sealing the win.
“My vocabulary is not good to expound on what I think of Wallace,” McCullum said. “He’s a two-way player. To find a freshman that plays on both ends, that’s impressive.”
“The difference tonight was Cason made shots,” Calipari said.
CJ Fredrick also made shots. Busting out of a shooting slump — 5 of 17 from three over his last five games — the Iowa transfer was 4 of 6 from three-point range. Overall, Kentucky was 13 of 23 from beyond the arc for 56.5 percent.
3. So far, this team is not yet a team
Heading into the Christmas break, this Kentucky edition is playing like just a collection of guys. There’s no continuity, no flow, no consistency, no spark. We’ve already seen that there doesn’t always appear to be a clear purpose on offense. Wednesday night, we saw a lack of defensive intensity.
This is an unusually experienced Kentucky team with veterans Oscar Tshiebwe, Sahvir Wheeler, Jacob Toppin and Lance Ware. CJ Fredrick didn’t play last season because of injury, but he was still part of the program. Antonio Reeves is an experienced college player.
Yet Calipari is coaching this team like it’s brand new. He’s out on the court for 40 minutes, directing plays on offense, agonizing about breakdowns on defense, experimenting with different combinations. “It’s going to be about combinations with this team,” he said afterward.
To be honest, for much of Wednesday night, Cal just looked exasperated.
“I would tell everybody, just be patient,” he said. “If you’ve watched me work in the past, it takes time to get it together.”
This story was originally published December 21, 2022 at 10:23 PM.
