John Calipari wanted to see how his team would respond against an even-matched foe and the result wasn’t exactly what the Kentucky coach expected following a 97-92 loss to UCLA Saturday.
Impressed by the Wildcats’ undefeated start and a track record of putting away opponents by double digits, the Kentucky coach canceled a pregame shoot-around, thinking thinking his team “was mature enough to do this.”
Malik Monk drives to the basket in UK’s loss to UCLA Saturday at Rupp Arena (Bill Thiry Photo)
It didn’t take long for Calipari to find out his team wasn’t prepared to take shortcuts just yet.
“We weren’t as ready as they were,” he said. “That comes back to me. (Not having a shoot-around) was my choice. Now that I see the result, I would have had a shoot-around this morning.”
BOXSCORE LINK: UCLA 97, Kentucky 92.
From the opening tip, Calipari sensed a different vibe from his squad, especially after the Wildcats fell behind 4-0 and missed their first three shots, including two 3-pointers, from the field.
“We didn’t have the energy,” Calipari said. “I had to call a timeout one minute into the game. I mean, (it) just wasn’t the same team. … There are great lessons out of this I wish we could have come back and won, I would have liked to learn from that lesson a little more, but sometimes you need to get hit on the chin, especially at home.”
Read More at Keith’s Blog: Out of the Blue
Nearly unbeatable at home, especially under Calipari, the Wildcats (8-1) had a 42-game home winning streak snapped in their first setback of the year.
The Bruins (9-0) defeated the Wildcats by simply making baskets, especially from long range that Kentucky failed to defend, resulting in 10 3-pointers in their first-ever appearance at Rupp Arena and first visit to Lexington in 55 years.
Knowing the past history and the difficult task of beating the Wildcats on their own home court, UCLA coach Steve Alford praised his team’s ability to withstand the pressure.
“We made shots, and if we can make shots in this environment against a team like this, it’s very encouraging,” he said. “For us to come in here and get a win, it’s huge for us.”
Calipari attributed UCLA’s success behind the arc to his team’s inability to successfully guard the perimeter, giving the Bruins easy looks behind the arc.
“For us, this wasn’t about offensively,” Caliapri said. “We gave up 10 threes and I’m guessing (on) six of them, we left a shooter (open). We didn’t have discipline defensively.”
Like his coach, Kentucky senior Derek Willis said UCLA’s abilioty to knock down open shots was because of the Wildcats’ lack of focus on defense.
“We knew if you gave them open threes, they were going to knock them down,” Willis said. “We had a lack of discipline (and) defensive lapses. (We) just have to crack down on that (and) consciously be more aware of that — like every possession matters. (We can’t) have plays like that because when to comes to March Madness and even the (Southeastern Conference) Tournament, those plays will cost you a game.”
Malik Monk, who led the Wildcats with 24 points, agreed with Willis’ assessment and said Kentucky’s lackluster showing on defense was a big difference in the outcome.
“Discipline and us being selfish (on defense) were really the man things on defense,” Monk said. “Our offense was fine. We do that. We know offense is going to come, but defensive focus (comes) every night and we didn’t have it tonight.”
Monk didn’t pinpoint missing shots as the biggest factor that led to Kentucky’s downfall. The Wildcats made just eight 3-pointers on 24 attempts and failed to counter the Bruins’ hot hand on offense and didn’t alter enough shots.
“I don’t care about missing shots,” he said. “It’s just defense. We know we’re going to miss a lot of shots (and) we’re still going to have opportunities to score. (It’s) just the defense. We’ve got to focus on defense.”
Along with defensive lapses, the Wildcats weren’t in sync on offense and managed just 16 assists, five below their season average, a number that disappointed Calipari.
“Why didn’t we pass it today? Because it was national television, it’s my time? We all looked bad,” Calipari said.
Kentucky will likely lose its top-ranking when the polls are released Monday, but Calipari said the single-digit setback is a lesson learned for his program.
“I’m learning about this team,” Calipari said. “These are all lessons. That’s why you play a season. 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.”
Keith Taylor is a senior sports writer for KyForward, where he primarily covers University of Kentucky sports. Reach him at keith.taylor@kyforward.com or @keithtaylor21 on Twitter
