Cats Must Learn Lessons to Erase Sting of UCLA Loss

Kentucky mounted a furious late rally to turn a comfortable UCLA lead into a one-possession game in the waning seconds.

The deficit proved too large, though, and the Wildcats fell in a battle of college basketball bluebloods.

Of course John Calipari was coaching with every ounce of his energy. But as soon as the final buzzer sounded, he was looking ahead.

“I wish we would have come back and won,” Coach Cal said. “I would have liked to learn from that lesson a little bit more. But sometimes you need to get hit on the chin, especially at home.”

There’s no disputing that’s exactly what happened, as the No. 11 Bruins (9-0) built an 11-point lead with 30 seconds remaining. UK’s near-comeback made the final score of 97-92 look a little better than it otherwise would have, but the fact remains that the top-ranked Cats (7-1) were exploited on defense.

That started behind the arc, where UCLA did what it normally does and made open shots. The Bruins were 10 of 23 from 3-point range.

“We gave up 10 3s and I’m guessing six of them we left a shooter,” Calipari said. “All we talked about for two days is the one way they’re going to beat us is bouncing it, they’re not beating us shooting standing 3s.”

UK, meanwhile, shot just 33.3 percent from 3-point range and 41.3 percent overall, but still managed a solid 1.1 points per possession. That serves to illuminate where UK’s issues truly were.

“Discipline and us being selfish were really the main things on defense,” said Malik Monk, who scored 24 points. “Our offense was fine. We do that. We know offense is going to come, but defensive focus is every night and we didn’t have it tonight.”

UCLA took full advantage of that behind dynamic freshman point guard Lonzo Ball (14 points, seven assists and six rebounds) and hot-shooting senior Isaac Hamilton (19 points). However, it was freshman big man TJ Leaf and his 17 points and 13 rebounds that ultimately doomed top-ranked UK (7-1) in Calipari’s mind.

“I mean, what Leaf did, basically dominated the game,” Calipari said. “We had no one, unless I was going to go big lineup, which we haven’t done a whole lot, which shows me maybe we have to be prepared for that.”

That’s one lesson in a game (and day) full of them. That started even before tipoff.

“I decided not to have a shootaround,” Calipari said. “I’m not making an excuse. That was my choice. Now that I see the result, I would have had a shootaround this morning. I just felt maybe they were mature enough to do this. I’m learning about this team.”

UK would fall into a 4-0 hole, forcing Calipari to call timeout. The Cats bounced back to claim a first-half lead that grew to as large as nine points, but the Bruins then had a bounce-back of their own with a 23-6 run spanning the end of the first half and start of the second.

“We let them out-battle us,” Calipari said. “We didn’t have the energy that they had. Now they got to figure out why. I talked two days about, ‘You have to figure out what makes you go, because every game we play is someone’s Super Bowl, every game. May not be fair, but you’re here, and that’s how it is.’ We had some guys I don’t think were ready to start the game. They just weren’t. Or their team was more ready than our team.

Through seven games, UK looked like a buzz saw. The Wildcats had demolished each of their first seven opponents by 21 points or more – a first at UK since 1947-48 – in claiming the No. 1 spot in both polls. Particularly after an incredible performance in the Bahamas against Arizona State, people were ready to anoint the Cats as an early favorite for the national championship entering the UCLA game.

Instead, UK got brought back down to earth by a UCLA team with national-title dreams of its own. That, if the Cats respond properly, offers an opportunity.

“Because we never got down like this or anything like that before,” Monk said. “Seeing this is great for us.”

The chances of UK making it through a grueling December schedule unscathed were slim. Though Saturday was an upset, Calipari always figured a moment like this would come sooner or later. Now, as the Cats look ahead to the next four weeks that feature games against North Carolina and Louisville and the start of Southeastern Conference play, it’s time to buckle down.

“That’s why you play a season,” Calipari said. “The great thing about college basketball is you’d like to learn from close wins, but sometimes it doesn’t work that way, you got to learn from a loss. That’s what we’ll try to do.”