In a last-ditch effort to win a resumption of construction, the Kentucky Wildcats welcomed Tennessee Volunteers in Lexington to try to defeat the country’s No. 11 team. Kentucky came out strong and got a solid advantage in the interval, but ended up falling to the Volunteers 82-71.
Keion Brooks had a great game, leading the team with 23 points. Devin Askew and Oliver Sarr had 14 each. But 11 plays in the second half allowed Tennessee to take all the momentum and win. This game was a kind of microcosm of the whole season. There were flashes of talent, some initial mastery, but ultimately they were unable to play an entire game with the composure necessary to win at that level.
Free throws
During the season, the Kentucky Wildcats hit less than 71% of the free throw line. But on Saturday, they improved the game and took advantage of the opportunities they had to kick 89.5% of the free-throw line to 17 points. This has been a critical statistic for most Calipari teams. His successful teams threw the ball well in the charity lane, and other seasons ended with poor performances from there. This can be a big step in the right direction if Wildcats have any hope of winning the SEC Tournament to try to get an offer at the NCAA Tournament.
Turnovers
Kentucky really has two Achilles’ heels this season: turnovers and a bad selection of kicks. Against Tennessee, the Wildcats came out and only turned the ball twice in the first half to open the gap. However, the second half was a very different story, as the Cats turned the ball 11 times and basically the game gave way between the 10 and 5 minute marks.
Keion Brooks
Keion Brooks had a great first game this season. In Florida, he had 12 points and six rebounds to take the Wildcats to a great victory. Since then, he has gone up and down in his statistical contributions. But against Tennessee on Saturday, we saw Keion Brooks peak.
He scored 23 points from just 16 shots and had 11 rebounds to basically dominate the game for 30 minutes. This is the sophomore, Keion Brooks, that we all expected to see this season, and that’s exactly what this team needs now. They need a guy they can go after a bucket with, and he did it at will against that petty Tennessee defense for most of the game. Of course, he was unable to get many looks along the straight, as the volunteers ran away with him.
Composure
Kentucky was in a perfect position to win this game. They were taking care of the ball, making good plays and limiting Tennessee’s transition game. But in the last 10 minutes of the game they completely collapsed. Turnovers, a hero ball approach leading to bad kicks and silly fouls led Kentucky to give up on this completely.
This team obviously has talent, but does not have the composure or mental strength to win when needed. I fully agree that this year is an anomaly in the Calipari era, but if nothing changes, this is a problem that can haunt the program for years. They need strong leadership on the court, and Calipari needs to recruit guys who can resist the pressure of playing in Kentucky. He always did very well with it, but this season was a big blow and failed because of that.