KSR's takeaways from Kentucky's 66-62 loss at Notre Dame

Kentucky couldn’t get it done in South Bend, falling to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish by a final score of 66-62. It was a loss that pushed UK’s record to 7-2 on the year, giving the Wildcats back-to-back losses against Power Five competition.

How did Kentucky fall short in its first true road test of the season? And what does it mean for the Wildcats as they look ahead to their trip to Las Vegas to take on Ohio State next weekend?

Another late loss to Notre Dame

Olivier Sarr missed a game-winning baseline jumper at the buzzer against Notre Dame in 2020-21, falling 64-63 at Rupp Arena on December 12, 2020. Almost one year later to the day, the Wildcats fell in similar fashion.

After hitting a clutch 3-pointer to take the lead with 1:50 to go, Kellan Grady had a three roll out with 1:20 to go, followed by a missed hook at the rim with 36 seconds on the clock by Oscar Tshiebwe. Both shots were to take the lead late, neither falling UK.

Instead, Notre Dame’s Blake Wesley knocked down a clutch jumper from the free-throw line to take the lead with 12 seconds to go, a shot that would prove to be the game-winner.

In a make-or-miss sport, Kentucky missed on its attempts while Notre Dame hit theirs.

Kentucky’s 3-point shooting struggles continue

On that note, let’s talk about yet another abysmal shooting performance for the Wildcats. UK finished the night 2-19 from three, good for a whopping 10.5 percent from three.

For those keeping track at home, Kentucky went 6-20 (30%) against Southern, 7-26 (26.9%) against Central Michigan, 6-25 (24.0%) against North Florida, 5-15 (33.3%) against Albany, 3-16 (18.8%) against Ohio. The last time UK surpassed the 40% mark from three was against Mount St. Mary’s back on November 16, the third game of the season.

“You don’t have to make them all, but you can’t miss them all.” It’s one of John Calipari’s go-to Cal-isms — he used it again tonight.

They didn’t miss them all, but Kentucky got pretty damn close. In fact, outside of Kellan Grady, they did miss them all.

John Calipari’s coaching decisions made no sense

Speaking of Calipari, let’s talk about his performance tonight. Between the bizarre rotations, frustrating use of timeouts, inability to reel in poor shot selection, and lack of shot creation for the team’s best shooters, it’s impossible to defend some of his coaching decisions.

Calipari can’t make the plays for his players on the floor, but he can certainly pull them and try something new when things are clearly not going well. He can’t stop the long twos, but he can yank those that try (and fail) at them over and over again. And he can certainly ride the hot hand and avoid making random substitutions to take those players out, as he did with TyTy Washington to start the game.

There was no rhyme or reason to some of the coaching decisions made, just throwing stuff against the wall and hoping for the best. Criticisms tonight are valid.

Nothing from the point guards

Washington, Sahvir Wheeler and Davion Mintz combined for 5-19 on the night, with the latter two shooting 2-12 overall and 0-7 from three. Washington was strong to start and got hot quickly, but went cold right when Calipari pulled him to put a struggling Wheeler back on the floor.

Wheeler was nearly unplayable, finishing with three points on 0-5 shooting, 0-2 from three and 3-4 from the line to go with two assists, two rebounds and two turnovers in 29 minutes. His shot selection was so poor it was essentially the equivalent of a turnover for every miss, jacking up jumpers in transition and clanking them off the rim a foot inside the 3-point line. Calipari eventually pulled him with 4:45 to go and he never saw the floor the rest of the way.

As for Mintz, he looked to get rolling early and often, but never got into his groove. He looked to reclaim the dagger-thrower title he earned last season, but missed the mark more often than not, finishing with six points on 2-7 shooting and 0-5 from three to go with four rebounds.

Calipari called out the point guard play after the game, saying it simply wasn’t good enough. And it wasn’t.

Oscar Tshiebwe dominates on the big stage

It wasn’t all negative for the Wildcats, as Oscar Tshiebwe was a monster in the post yet again, finishing with 25 points (11-14 shooting, 3-4 FT), seven rebounds, three steals, two blocks, one assist and just one foul in 37 minutes. It was Tshiebwe’s best all-around offensive performance and it wasn’t close, knocking down jumpers and finishing with touch down low.

When Kentucky looked to get the offense rolling, Tshiebwe was the lone consistent on the roster. Time and time again, his teammates would go to him in the post, and he’d deliver. He struggled at times with interior defense, but it’s hard to nitpick a performance that was as impressive as the one Tshiebwe put forth in South Bend.

The 6-foot-9 center has been Kentucky’s best player all season long, and it really hasn’t been close. He missed his ten rebound mark for the first time this season, but his production on the offensive end more than made up for his “limited” production on the glass — seven rebounds certainly isn’t chopped liver.

Without Tshiebwe, Kentucky leaves South Bend with a blowout loss. End of story.

Kentucky comes up short in first true road test

Admittedly, the crowd at the Joyce Center was phenomenal. There was a lot to celebrate, introducing new Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman and inducting Irish legend LaPhonso Ellis into the program’s Ring of Honor.

With Kentucky in town, it only added to the intrigue for the fanbase, with ND diehards packing the arena from top to bottom. It was undoubtedly the most difficult environment this team has had to play in through nine games. The crowd was piercingly loud from start to finish.

Was the moment too big for the Wildcats? Maybe. Did playing seven consecutive home games against low-major competition hurt the team in an environment like this? It’s hard to argue against it.

Nonetheless, Kentucky fell short in its first true road test of the year.