Kentucky staying positive after loss to Kansas: "We can beat teams like that"

ZGeogheganKSR

Kentucky had several chances to take down the Kansas Jayhawks over the weekend, but came up just short once the clock hit all zeros. UK fell 77-68 to the reigning national champions in front of a jazzed-up Rupp Arena crowd. The Wildcats were within striking distance down the stretch and always a big shot or two away from overtaking Kansas in the closing minutes. However, a handful of tough shots from the Jayhawks’ best players wound up making the difference.

In the end, that’s truly what this game came down to — one team hit timely shots in crunch time, while the other didn’t. Kentucky was on the wrong side of that equation, but it shouldn’t totally take away from the fact that the ‘Cats came into that matchup on a four-game winning streak, trending in the right direction. UK is still in a position to finish the season strong.

“I felt like we were really ready to play going into the game,” Kentucky assistant coach KT Turner said on Monday morning. “First half, even the second half, our guys were up. They were ready to play the game. (Kansas) has a couple of guys who have won a national championship last year and Jalen Wilson hit some big shots for them, Dajuan Harris found Gradey Dick for an open shot. They have some veterans that have played in some really really big games. We just got to get better from there, we got to learn from it and get better.”

Despite the fact that Kansas had lost three in a row (all against Top 20 opponents) entering Saturday night, the Jayhawks are still considered one of the nation’s top groups. The latest AP Poll from Monday morning backed that theory, as Kansas actually moved up one spot to No. 8 in the country.

Sure, it would have been huge for Kentucky to snag the win, but there shouldn’t be any reason to believe that the ‘Cats will slip back into the losing ways of early January.

“We can beat teams like that, first of all,” Turner said of what he learned about this Kentucky team after the weekend. “We were right there in the game with them. We just got to get better at a couple of things defensively that we’re gonna be working on — working on yesterday and today.”

Kentucky played well enough to beat Kansas on Saturday — full stop. UK shot 49 percent from the floor and only turned the ball over 11 times. The first 10 minutes actually favored the ‘Cats before foul trouble to Oscar Tshiebwe and Jacob Toppin began to creep in. Kentucky shot 4-11 from the free-throw line and 0-6 from beyond the arc in the opening half; that’s enough to dig a hole too deep against a team as talented as Kansas, and yet UK had several chances to take the lead in the second half.

“Our guys were mad, they were,” Turner said. “They said it yesterday, we’re mad we lost and we felt like we had a chance to win the game but they realized we’re right there. We’re right there, we just gotta get a little bit better.”

The difference for Kentucky proved to be shot-making and offensive rebounding — or a lack thereof. UK finished with just four offensive rebounds, all of them coming in the second half. The ‘Cats shot just 2-13 from beyond the arc with Cason Wallace making both after the halftime break. Sometimes, it really is as simple as hitting a few more shots.

But Kansas also showed that Kentucky still has plenty to work on as we inch toward the end of the regular season. Once again, pick-and-roll action eviscerated the UK defense. Coach Turner mentioned guarding ballscreens as an added point of emphasis in practice moving forward. Kansas’ 6-foot-7 sophomore KJ Adams Jr. had his way in the pick-and-roll, leading to 17 points on 8-10 shooting to go along with three assists.

Now, the only thing that matters for Kentucky is the Ole Miss Rebels, which holds a 1-7 record in SEC play. The two sides will meet late Tuesday night in Oxford as UK looks to quickly recover from this past weekend’s loss. Kentucky can’t afford to get too down after suffering such a tough defeat.

“Our locker room was really tight (after the loss to Kansas),” Turner added. “We always talk about, even before the game, win or lose, we’re gonna go out and play, don’t worry about the results and it’s on to the next game. Our guys are tight, they still have a great positive attitude right now. We gotta be ready tomorrow night.”