Brandon Boston had 11 points and seven rebounds against Louisville but missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have forced overtime against Louisville. (Scott Utterback Photo)
If you had told me before the season started that Olivier Sarr and Terrence Clarke would not have had a field goal between them against Louisville, no way would I have believed you. If you had told me, Sarr and Clarke would have combined for one rebound against the Cards, no way would I have believed you.
If you would have told me not only would Kentucky lose to Louisville but that would be UK’s sixth straight loss and drop the Cats to 1-6, you probably could have owned my house.
But guess what? All that happened Saturday when Louisville held on for a 62-59 win over the Wildcats. Sarr did have a 15-footer look like it was going down with about eight seconds to play that would have given UK the lead but just like when he had a chance to beat Notre Dame with almost the same shot, it came out.
This team just has so many problems offensively. The Cats are not great defensively but offensively is where UK is horrible. Kentucky overcame a 7-point deficit late by forcing three straight turnovers but missed its last five shots and did not have a field goal in the final 3 minutes, 22 seconds.
Earlier in the half Kentucky went over eight minutes without a field goal. That means Kentucky went almost 12 minutes in the second half in the two droughts without a single field goal.
ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg noted that UK’s offensive woes are easy to understand.
“They don’t have a guy who can make a basket or draw the defense and kick to an open teammate,” Greenberg said. “Secondly, they have to get something out of someone on the interior.”
Bingo. Sarr was supposed to be the guy on the inside. Remember when he got his NCAA waiver to be eligible after transferring from Wake Forest that was supposed to make UK a Final Four contender. He’s gone two straight games — North Carolina and Louisville — without a field goal. Both are ACC teams where he was a second-team all-conference player last year. Makes no sense.
Kentucky coach John Calipari said the Cats went into the game planning to throw him the ball as many times as the could. Instead, he missed two early shots and then took only one more the rest of the game before his final miss.
Clarke was the guy many thought would be UK’s go-to guy. He’s struggled all season and was playing through an injury that limited his practice time last week.
“Terrence Clarke is battling. His body is really in pain,” teammate Davion Mintz said. “He is going out there and trying his hardest.”
If that’s true — and there’s no reason to doubt Mintz — then that is on Calipari. The coach said Clarke was maybe 80 percent and had the same injury that guard Ashton Hagans played through last year. “It’s hard, it’s painful,” Calipari said.
Yet the coach kept him out there 16 minutes overall. He missed all four shots, including three 3-pointers. He didn’t have a rebound or assist. He made one turnover.
At the same time redshirt freshman Dontaie Allen — a player Calipari said he was “rooting” for last week — stayed on the bench. Never got in the game even though UK shot 34 percent from the field but take out Mintz and Jacob Toppin and UKs other players were a combined 9-for-39 from the field. Think about that. That’s under 25 percent and yet a former Kentucky Mr. Basketball known for his shooting stayed on the bench.
Calipari was surprisingly upbeat after the loss. Maybe he knows he has to try to be that way because whether he likes it or not, the UK fanbase is slipping away.
“Let me say this losing stinks,” Calipari said before rattling off that he was “proud” of the team for fighting and being more engaged — things you would expect a preseason top 10 to do.
He also praised some players for spurts of terrific play.
“They are trying and we are getting better,” Calipari said.
Really? Kentucky is 1-6.
“We are doing some good stuff,” the UK coach said. “Losing stinks. We have got to right the ship and roll over people. We have got to win one and then start moving on.”
Moving on? I think it has been about 30 years since a team started the season 1-6 and made the NCAA Tournament. Texas did that by winning its conference. I’m not sure even if UK goes 14-4 in SEC play it would be 15-10. Throw in a win over Texas and UK would be 16-10. But does anyone today really think UK could go 14-4 in SEC games. I don’t.
