KSR Today: Filing Grievances Following Another Kentucky Let Down in Indianapolis
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Kentucky suffered a painfully excruciating loss on a big stage in Indianapolis. Oscar Tshiebwe was outstanding in his 2022-23 debut — 22 points, 18 rebounds, 4 blocked shots — but he fouled out near the end of the first overtime, ultimately costing the Cats. Late Michigan State heroics lifted Sparty to an 86-77 win in two OTs.
Winning Tuesday night was going to be a tall task for Kentucky. Michigan State already had a game against Gonzaga under its belt, while UK had two easy warm-ups without three key players consistently contributing. The Wildcats deserve some November benefit of the doubt. They are far from a polished product. With that being said, let’s take a moment to vent about the loss that shouldn’t have happened.
Out of Bounds Plays
You’ve seen it once, you’ve seen it a thousand times and you saw it last night at the end of regulation. Oscar swatted a shot out of bounds with 4 second left underneath Michigan State’s basket. Tom Izzo called a baseline out of bounds play and got a wide open dunk for Malik Hall, because of course he did.
Another overtime later, Kentucky was once again up two points. This time Michigan State had to go the length of the court. For some strange reason, UK pressed. It led to the same result, an easy dunk.
End of Game Offensive Execution — STOP THE CIRCLE!
I would die a happy man if I never saw the circle play one more time. You know the play, the one Tyler Herro and PJ Washington used to put up crazy numbers in 2018-19 (until Auburn forced PJ to post up 18 feet away from the basket). It starts with CJ Fredrick underneath the basket and a pair of down screens on either side of the lane. He runs to one side, catches the pass without looking to shoot, kicks it back to the top of the key, then CJ receives a back screen and sprints off the other down-screen. This time he’s looking for the screener, Oscar Tshiebwe. If Oscar is fronted in the post (which it usually is after the play has been called 22 times), CJ has to kick it back to Sahvir Wheeler with 7 seconds left on the shot clock. The point guard drives into traffic and some times something good happens but it’s not what anyone would consider a “good” shot.
Kentucky did this at the end of the first half. Wheeler missed a bad, contested driving shot. With a lead late in the game, they did the same thing over and over and over again, rarely resulting in easy buckets. One exception occurred in 2OT when the defense collapsed on Wheeler and Cason Wallace was left wide open for a corner three. It was Kentucky’s last made field goal of the game with four minutes remaining. Another circle set in overtime resulted in a wide open Wheeler layup, one that he missed, and also a walk at the top of the key.
Statistically speaking, Wheeler played well — 16 points, 8 assists and only 3 turnovers. He is a solid player, just one that’s asked to do too much in end-of-game situations. That’s why each end-of-game possession looked almost exactly like what happened the last time the Wildcats played in Indianapolis.
College Basketball Refs — WOOF!
Never mind the fact that they called 43 personal fouls in 50 minutes of basketball action. Kentucky had a 5-4 advantage in double overtime as a Michigan State player rolled around in pain in the backcourt. Officials aren’t supposed to stop the clock unless a player is in imminent danger. Nobody was within 75 feet of the player, yet they stopped the action and let the Spartans sub. The Wildcats got zero points out of the possession.
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Let me be clear, bad officiating did not cost Kentucky a win. Last night was just my annual reminder that college basketball officiating is universally horrendous. The sport is a worse product because of the officials’ consistently unacceptable performance.
The CFB Playoff Rankings Made this Worse
College football fans turned on their TVs 90 minutes later than normal to check out where their team fell in the latest edition of the CFB Playoff Rankings. Instead of seeing the rankings, they watched Kentucky screw up an end of game possession over and over again, further delaying the release of the rankings. The Top 25 was supposed to drop around 9:05 ET. We learned the complete Top 25 at about 10:09 ET, all thanks to a THREE-HOUR college basketball game. Kentucky got extra eyeballs on the Wildcats and did not take advantage it.
Indianapolis has Cursed Kentucky Basketball
It was once the site of historic wins. Since Aaron Harrison sent the Wildcats to the Final Four with a deep three-pointer over Michigan, Kentucky is just 3-4 in the city of Indianapolis. Those losses include one as an undefeated team in a Final Four, a 34-point loss to Zion Williamson and a loss to a 15-seed. Please, never return to Indianapolis, ever, EVER again.
At Least Louisville Lost
It wasn’t all bad news Tuesday night for Kentucky fans. Louisville lost, again. It’s their third one-point loss of the season at the KFC Yum! Center. The most painful part? The Cards thought they hit a game-winning shot. There was jubilation and a bench-clearing celebration, but El Ellis did not get off his shot in time.
Shout Out to Isaac Humphries
In other good news, Isaac Humphries let a weight off his shoulders. The former Wildcat came out to his his new NBL teammates. After struggling internally for a long time, even admitting he once tried to take his life, Humphries shared publicly that he is gay. “You can live, and you don’t have to hide,” Humphries said. “The truth is, there are so many people in other worlds that are struggling every single day and don’t know how to get up, don’t know how to exist and I know how that feels. I want to represent those people.”
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