LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Questions have stacked up like discarded tissues about this Kentucky basketball team for two weeks. But after the Wildcats were beaten, 64-63, by Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon in Rupp Arena, this question moved to the front of the line:
Are the Wildcats on the fast-track to missing the 2021 NCAA Tournament?
Sure looks that way. I wasn’t the only one asking the question about John Calipari’s first 1-4 team in Lexington -- as well as the first 1-4 UK team in 35 years.
Kentucky probably will get better. But if they lose to Notre Dame their path to compiling an at-large worthy resume gets very narrow.
— Bart T🏀rvik (@totally_t_bomb) December 12, 2020
Yes, the Wildcats cut a 24-point deficit to 1 — and UK center Olivier Sarr missed a 17-foot baseline jumper that would have won the game in the final second. But coming close doesn't excite the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee.
"Even though we fought hard, winning is important," Sarr said. "For the record. For the confidence of the players."
"Losing games in a row here is like a natural disaster," Calipari said. "You know what? I'm not buying it."
Other people are buying it. If you’re scoring at home, the Wildcats just lost to Georgia Tech by 17 and followed it up by losing to the Irish — and no matter how relentlessly Calipari tries to spin it, Kentucky has not been playing the best the Atlantic Coast Conference has to offer.
Georgia Tech was forecast to finish ninth in the ACC with the Irish three spots behind them. The Irish, losers to Michigan State and Ohio State, led for the final 37 minutes. Notre Dame last made the NCAA Tournament in 2017, Georgia Tech in 2010. The Wildcats have not being losing to Villanova and Baylor.
After the loss, the Wildcats dropped 10 spots in Ken Pomeroy's computer power formula to No. 42. Pomeroy has Kentucky tracking for a 12-14 season.
For the first 23 minutes, this was abysmal, as poorly as Kentucky has played in Rupp in years. The Wildcats missed their first nine shots from distance while Notre Dame was converting from Corbin, Cynthiana and LaGrange, making 6 of 8 from distance while surging to a 33-9 lead.
Calipari moved Creighton transfer Davion Mintz into the starting lineup at guard, replacing freshman Devin Askew. He asked Terrence Clarke, a 6-foot-7 wing, to play point guard. The turnover issues slowed. But they did not disappear. After averaging more than 19 turnovers in the previous three games, UK finished with 11, although Notre Dame isn't known for its defensive chops.
Defensively, Calipari blamed a player that he declined to identify for failing to follow the game plan and leaving Notre Dame's Nate Laszewski open for four of the five field goals Laszewski made in the first half.
"We had guys who didn't follow the script and never have followed the script," Calipari said.
Ouch.
Kentucky’s defense — or Notre Dame’s crooked shooting — gave the Wildcats their shot in the second half. The Wildcats scored 16 consecutive points, carving the Notre Dame lead to four, 53-49. The Irish missed their first eight shots from distance in the second half.
The Wildcats cranked up the defense in the second half, limiting Notre Dame to 16 points. Sarr led Kentucky with 22.
"The biggest lesson of that game was we need to play 40 minutes," said UK reserve Jacob Toppin. "We need to play more aggressive for 40 minutes."
Although Calipari said that he was pleased with the second half performance, as the Wildcats outscored the Irish, 37-16, he also threatened to change his lineup -- again.
"If some guys shouldn't start, they won't start," he said. "If somebody needs to play less minutes, they'll play less minutes."
Mark the Wildcats as 1-4 for the first time in 35 years. Kentucky started 1-4 in 1984-85, coach Joe B. Hall’s final season.
Let the record show that team lost three of those four on the road against Purdue, Indiana and Louisville. Let it also show the 1985 Wildcats steadied to win seven straight and finish 11-7 in the Southeastern Conference. They not only made the NCAA Tournament, they won two games before losing in the Sweet Sixteen.
But this team has serious work to do to prove it can do what Kentucky did in Hall’s farewell.
If the novel coronavirus cooperates, Kentucky has three more non-conference opportunities to impress the NCAA Tournament Selection committee.
"You've got to win some games," Calipari said.
There is a trip to Cleveland next Saturday to play UCLA. They is a visit to Louisville Dec. 26. And they will welcome Shaka Smart’s best Texas team to Rupp on Jan. 30.
There’s time. But not if Calipari’s team plays as poorly as it played this week.
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