In a last-ditch effort to secure a win, the Kentucky Wildcats welcomed the Tennessee Volunteers to Lexington to try and win the No. 11 team in the country. Kentucky came out strong and took a solid lead at half time, but they eventually fell to the Volunteers 82-71.
Keion Brooks had a great game, leading the team with 23 points. Devin Askew and Oliver Sarr each had 14. But with eleven second half turnovers, Tennessee was able to accelerate and take the victory. This game was kind of a microcosm of this entire season. There were flashes of talent, some early dominance, but in the end they couldn’t play an entire game with the composure it takes to win at this level.
Free throws
During the season, the Kentucky Wildcats have shot less than 71% of the free throw line. But on Saturday, they upped their game and took advantage of the opportunities they had to shoot 89.5% of the free-throw line for 17 points. This has been a critical statistic for most Calipari teams. His successful teams have shot the ball well from the charity line and other seasons have ended with poor performances from there. This could be a huge step in the right direction if the Wildcats have any hope of winning the SEC tournament to try and get a bid in the NCAA tournament.
Revenue
Kentucky really has two Achilles heels this season: sales and poor selection. Against Tennessee, the Wildcats came out and turned the ball only twice in the first half to take a lead at half time. The second half was a completely different story, however, as the Cats flipped the ball 11 times and basically gave the game away between 10 and 5 minutes.
Keion Brooks
Keion Brooks had a great first game this season. In Florida, he had 12 points and six rebounds to lead the Wildcats to a big win. Since then, he has been up and down in his statistical contributions. But against Tennessee on Saturday, we saw peak Keion Brooks.
He scored 23 points on just 16 shots and had 11 rebounds to basically dominate the game for 30 minutes. This is the sophomore Keion Brooks we all hoped to see this season, and that’s exactly what this team needs now. They need a man they can turn to for a bucket, and he did most of the game against this stingy defense in Tennessee. Of course, he wasn’t able to get many looks along the way when the volunteers walked away with it.
Calmness
Kentucky was in a perfect position to win this game. They took care of the ball, made good shots and limited Tennessee’s transition play. But in the last 10 minutes of the match, they fell apart completely. Turnover, a hero ball approach that led to bad shots, and silly mistakes led to Kentucky giving these away completely.
This team clearly has talent, but they don’t have the composure or mental toughness to win when it comes down to it. I fully agree that this year is an anomaly in the Calipari era, but if nothing changes, this is an issue that could haunt the program for years to come. They need strong leadership on the field, and Calipari needs to recruit men who can withstand the pressures of playing in Kentucky. He has always done well with that, but this season was a major turnaround and therefore a miss.