Jacob Toppin calls out team following loss to Gonzaga

Kentucky fell to 3-2 on the early season Sunday night when they went to Spokane and lost to Gonzaga 88-72. The Wildcats put up a better fight in the second half, but it wouldn’t have taken much based on the effort they put forth over the first 20 minutes. They dug themselves into a hole with a deficit that was as much as 18 points and was at 16 points come the break. It was an effort level that even had the broadcast calling out the Cats and, after the game, senior forward Jacob Toppin did as well.

Per Ryan Black of the Courier-Journal, Toppin said neither he nor the rest of the Wildcats stepped up when their team needed it most. He placed the blame on himself and his teammates for not coming into the Top-5 matchup with the appropriate energy.

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“If you want the honest answer…It’s a long season,” said Toppin. “I don’t want to speak for any guys but, in some moments, guys can’t step up. Me included…You can say whatever you want. But, at the end of the game, we’re going to put this on ourselves.”

Things didn’t sound much better coming from the reigning National Player of the Year either. Per Kyle Tucker of The Athletic, Oscar Tshiebwe shared some troubling comments when asked why he and his teammates have had problems finding their offense against the two quality opponents of their season thus far. From what he said, it’s because the players are going off-script when it comes to John Calipari’s game plan.

“Most of the time we don’t really run what coach is asking us to do,” said Tshiebwe.

UK’s second-half fight wasn’t enough to get them the comeback win, but it was still night and day in comparison to what they showed in the first half. Overall, though, these kinds of comments should concern those in Lexington, especially since they’re coming from two of the program’s veteran leaders. Toppin is right that there’s a lot of season left but, if intensity and focus are going to be as much of an issue for Kentucky as they were tonight against the Zags, it could be equally frustrating for UK as it is long.