KSR Today: Kentucky Offense Falls Flat at South Carolina

The highest-scoring team in college basketball forgot how to put the ball through the hoop. Kentucky traveled to Columbia and laid an egg, falling 79-62 to South Carolina.

Lamont Paris is now 2-0 against Kentucky after logging his first Top 25 win as the Gamecocks’ head coach. South Carolina has only 15 wins all-time over Kentucky, but they’ve won four of the last seven meetings against the Wildcats.

The last time we saw the Wildcats they scored 54 points in the first half against Georgia. Kentucky surpassed 54 points at the 3:02 mark Tuesday night. It was a total systems failure for the best offensive team of the Calipari era.

South Carolina’s physicality bothered Kentucky in the paint, who made just 2-of-13 shots at the rim in the first half. The Gamecocks ran the Cats off the three-point line, making a season-low four from downtown on only 13 attempts (30.8%). One of the best passing teams in the SEC only had seven assists on 25 made field goals.

Rob Dillingham (16 points), Tre Mitchell (13), and Antonio Reeves (15) carried the offense during stretches, but nothing came easily. Meanwhile, Ta’Lon Cooper did everything for the Gamecocks. He led them in scoring with 20 points and tallied six boards and five assists. Meechie Johnson added 14 points and Collin Murray-Broyles had nine rebounds.

It’s not easy winning on the road in conference play. Kentucky is not the first, nor will they be the last Top 25 team to lose in a hostile environment, but I don’t think anyone around the Big Blue Nation thought these Cats had this kind of performance in them.

Did You Know there was a Cylinder Rule?

My middle school basketball coach taught me that every player has the right to their own space. If someone gets in that space, you can use your elbow to remove them from it.

In recent years that went by the wayside. Any sort of elbow to an opponent could not only be a personal foul but also a flagrant. On Tuesday night something happened that I had never seen before in a basketball game. Tre Mitchell got elbowed in the face. Upon further review, he was whistled for a foul for “entering the cylinder.” Apparently, the term cylinder isn’t just used for goaltending.

The use of this dumb rule turned the tide in the game. Led by Mitchell, Kentucky cut the deficit to two just a minute prior. After the call reversal on review, the Gamecocks went on an 11-2 run and it was a double-digit ballgame the rest of the way.

Hear from the Cats

South Carolina brought the physicality off the jump. It rattled Kentucky offensively and the Cats could never recover.

“I saw men and I saw boys,” Calipari told Tom Leach on the radio after the loss. “They just played so much rougher than us and whether it was post defense — they banged us on drives, they banged us. We were trying to dance with the ball, and the minute you dance they pushed up and then you couldn’t get to the basket. Now you’re driving for a layup and he’s riding you a little bit. We missed six layups in the first half. You can’t win a game like this. You can’t go 2-10 from the three (in the first half).”

Hear more from John Calipari in his postgame press conference.

Got thoughts? Continue the conversation on KSBoard, the KSR Message Board. New members can try 1 month for $1.

Kentucky Could Use Adou Thiero

Offense was the primary culprit behind the loss, but the defense still isn’t good. According to Corey Price, Kentucky has allowed 40 points in 11 of their last 17 halves. It’s also the first time in the history of Kentucky basketball the Cats have allowed 77 points in each of their first six SEC games. Kentucky looked solid at times in the first half but they struggle to consistently get stops, particularly in the interior.

That is where the physicality of Adou Thiero could sure come in handy. He missed his seventh straight game and John Calipari had some interesting comments on the official UK pregame show.

“He won’t play, but watching him I’ve got to say, ‘Well, why aren’t you playing?’” said Calipari. “Like, he’s dunking balls and doing stuff.’ ‘Well, I’m a little bit hurt.’ Some of these guys start playing really well, you’d better get back here and fight.’”

Postgame Reaction from the Kentucky Loss

So where do we go now? It’s a difficult pill to swallow. Matt Jones and Billy Rutledge tried to make sense of it on the KSR Postgame Show. You can hear more from Drew, Jack, and Zack on KSR’s Rapid Reaction.

Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel for press conferences, interviews, original shows, fan features, and exclusive content.

Scores from Around College Basketball

You’ll never believe this, but Louisville had another double-digit loss. This time it was an 83-69 defeat to Duke. A few other scores from around the sport Tuesday night:

• No. 4 Houston 75, No. 21 BYU 68
• Texas 75, No. 11 Oklahoma 60
• No. 13 Wisconsin 61, Minnesota 59
• No. 16 Dayton 66, La Salle 54
• No. 2 Purdue 99, Michigan 67
• No. 17 Creighton 85, Xavier 78
• Texas A&M 63, Missouri 57

Tonight’s College Hoops Slate

• NC State (+3.5) at Virginia, 7:00, ACCN
• No. 8 Auburn (+2.5) at Alabama, 7:30, ESPN
• Villanova (+3.5) at St. John’s, 8:30, FS1
• Miss. State (+3.5) at Florida, 8:30, SECN
• No. 10 Illinois (-3.5) at Northwestern, 9:00, BTN
• Arkansas (+5.5) at Ole Miss, 9:00, ESPNU
• Kansas State (+8.5) at No. 23 Iowa State, 9:00, ESPN2
• No. 24 Colorado State (+2.5) at Nevada, 10:30, FS1

Two Future Wildcats are McDonald’s All-Americans

Throughout the John Calipari era, the McDonald’s All-American Game has provided an annual preview of who’s next for the Wildcats. This spring two more future Wildcats will show off their stuff in the showcase. After PG Boogie Fland and C Jayden Quaintance suit up in the game this spring, Calipari will have 48 McDonald’s All-Americans over 16 recruiting classes at Kentucky. Unreal.