Kentucky loses first game of the season 74-66 against top-10 Maryland

by: Phoenix Stevens8 hours agoPStevensKSR

After beating a really good and ranked Louisville team by double digits on the road on Saturday, it was reasonable to feel good heading into Wednesday’s matchup against the Maryland Terrapins, the No. 7 team in the country. After all, Kentucky has faced adversity on the road. This was Maryland’s first contest away from home all year.

However, it was Maryland who came out on top in this one, beating Kentucky 74-66 on a neutral court to hand the Cats their first loss of the season.

Maryland started off this game ready to go, and Kentucky did not. Through one, the Terrapins led 21-12 and it wasn’t like they were playing out of their minds, Kentucky just came out flat. To start the game, the Cats were just 5-15 (0-3 3PT) from the field with six early turnovers. Missing out on open looks didn’t help either.

Kentucky started to make a comeback in the second quarter, but again, the open shots just weren’t falling. The offense has been so inconsistent this season with this group, and it showed against Maryland. You just can’t afford to go cold against a top 10 team in the country. At the half, it was 39-28 Terps.

Before we even made it to the third-quarter media timeout, Maryland had gotten out to a 52-32 lead, opening the second half on a 13-4 run. After a Kenny Brooks timeout, however, Kentucky trimmed it down to a 55-43 game with just over three minutes to go in the third quarter.

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Again, Maryland responded, and for the rest of the way, Kentucky was playing catch up. It’s better to lose now than in March — and it helps this was to a top-10 team on a neutral court — but to lose in this fashion is certainly a bit deflating. Kentucky lost at North Carolina last year and did pretty well after that. Hopefully, we get something similar here.

Kentucky made a push at the end to make it close, but close doesn’t quite count in this sport.

On Friday, Kentucky will take on the Morgan State Lady Bears in their second and final game in Puerto Rico. Following a blowout loss to Wake Forest earlier on Wednesday, Morgan State is now 1-6 on the year. Tipoff for that one is also scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET on FloSports.