UT @ UK game thread

[40bill]

The Evansville loss was pretty historic....likely one of UKs top losses ever. Last night was bad, but like a lot have said, it WAS against our biggest conference rival (historically). AND I may be one of the few, but I think Barnes is a mighty good coach.
doesn't change it....this team has some mighty big weaknesses. I guess we thought they had been working d out, but they're still there.
Bliggest seems to be Ashton, but far from only.
Maybe I'm just cranking, but Cals constant screaming has gone from passion to showboat to almost comical to grating. But maybe that's what this crew needs.

anyway.....
bad loss.
STILL SEC regular season champions.
Which is actually more than I had anticipated from this crew after that home loss to Evansville.

[TrueblueCATfan]

I Hate 9:00 game but I managed to stay up for this one......UGH...so mad when I went to bed I could not sleep

how do we lose at home to Tennessee after we just blew them out in Knoxville

not sure what Cal;s obsession is with Hagans but he is just playing awful basketball right now

I am going to need a nap today

[JFCats22]

Some MAJOR issues with Hagans being reported today. Not a good look at all for him and potentially a huge issue at the end of the season.

Wow

[Joneslab]

Some MAJOR issues with Hagans being reported today. Not a good look at all for him and potentially a huge issue at the end of the season.

Wow

I saw somebody say during the game last night that Cal had told the big men to go to the guards and yell at them for not throwing them the ball. Apparently he said this in the pregame talk with Leach, so I'm assuming it had been a talking point recently.

That seemed to set up some odd situations last night, not only with Hagans but with all the guards.

Not a great coaching move, but perhaps Cal was trying to set something up for the tournament.

Last night though it caused a lot of friction.

[Joneslab]

Also, it's interesting how Rick Barnes sort of dominates Cal.

I chalk it up to Cal needing a villain over there to get himself pumped up. He's one of these guys--kind of like our President--who's at his best when he's concocting these situations where everybody is after him, and that he's this stomped-on underdog.

Barnes and Cal have a deep friendship, so I would say it's harder for Cal to get his intensity up. I mean there was Barnes calling us the best team in the nation before that game. That was gamesmanship by Barnes.

And there are some basketball things Rick Barnes does that Cal's teams struggle with. They run a lot of complex stuff and they're very detailed. Of course last night it didn't come down to that: we just didn't match their intensity. I knew we were in trouble when Nick Richards got beat down the floor twice in the first 90 seconds.

[Joneslab]

[KCKUKFan]

Drummond's report is concerning. But as unified and tight as we were Saturday, I refuse to believe that the chemistry has just fallen apart in three days.

They will be fine. Nothing was going right in the second half, emotions flared, and we saw what happened.

[Joneslab]

And also, what we saw last night has really been happening all year.

This is one of the worst teams I've seen at UK at playing with leads. They lose focus like nobody's business. They can't hit those key shots to break open games. And they're prone to major offensive lulls, which allows teams to come back.

Their saving grace has been that they play well down the stretch (usually) and they hit foul shots. But last night Tennessee just took the game from them.

If you're looking for a silver lining, it could be that: that Kentucky didn't fool around like that and win. That they lost may send home a lesson that you can't keep getting these double-digit leads and then crapping them away. Whatever is happening when they get up by 13 or 15 with about 10:00 to go in the second half needs to be fixed ASAP.

[Dwight Schrute]

Haha, Lunardi is regularly one of the worst ranked bracketology guys every year. No clue why anyone would take any stock in his seedings

That's false.

[J.Jennings]

Great loss last night and i am not even mad, it's a friendly reminder that if the other team wants it more you are going to lose.

Not sure what was going on on the sidelines but i noticed Hagan's barked back at Cal either in the first half after his second foul when he was on the bench or the 3rd foul in the second half, can't remember. Regardless Hagan's all about me body language is starting to get on my last nerve, glad this will be his last year whether he is ready or not, he is not a true point guard, more of a ball stopper who can't shoot or finish, just a glorified defender who fouls way to much...

[J.Jennings]

Good news is we have lost 4 games we know we should have won, Tn. SC Evansville and Utah. All in all not a horrible group but i don't think there is enough time left in the season to correct the blowing lead or not closing a team out syndrome, it is what it is, could win 6 could lose the first one....

[Joneslab]

For as rough as Hagans was, I actually thought Nick Richards was the main culprit last night.

Richards played arguably the worst game I've ever seen him play last night. He couldn't hang on to the ball, he mistimed every jump, he didn't play hard, he couldn't catch anything.

Both he and Hagans have been trending down for probably the last two or three weeks. That's not good for two guys you have to have to be really bottoming out as we move toward the NCAA Tournament.

It's really not a surprise that those two are the ones who were in each other's faces. Those two are the ones who are seeing their NBA stock plummet.

[J.Jennings]

Apparently Cal and Hagans had some words during the game. We don't need this stuff right now.

Best thing for Cal to do now is to bury his on the bench and go with Quickly and Maxey with Juzang. Hagans entered the second half at the 13 minute mark with a big lead, enough said...

[J.Jennings]

For as rough as Hagans was, I actually thought Nick Richards was the main culprit last night.

Richards played arguably the worst game I've ever seen him play last night. He couldn't hang on to the ball, he mistimed every jump, he didn't play hard, he couldn't catch anything.

Both he and Hagans have been trending down for probably the last two or three weeks. That's not good for two guys you have to have to be really bottoming out as we move toward the NCAA Tournament.

It's really not a surprise that those two are the ones who were in each other's faces. Those two are the ones who are seeing their NBA stock plummet.

I wonder if there is a little jealousy going on with Hagan's in regards to Quickly and RIchards talks? Hagan's almost reminds me of Archie Goodwin in some ways, not sure how i feel about that...

[JFCats22]

That's false.

Nope, you are wrong....here you go. 5 year average of #55

http://www.bracketmatrix.com/rankings.html

He is not good at this