KSR's top takeaways: Kentucky lost games with no heart -- then finally won one with it

There hasn’t been much to root for with this Kentucky team, taking on losses of every form and fashion — boring slogs like North Carolina, fruitless comeback efforts like Louisville and downright embarrassments like Michigan State and Gonzaga. It hasn’t been every possession of every game, but heart was a key talking point in the ugliest moments with very real questions about whether these guys actually cared. Between the bad body language, poor focus and generally lazy defensive effort, as harsh as it sounds, these Wildcats were tough to root for.

That’s why they got booed off the floor in Nashville — a deserved fan reaction, in Mark Pope’s eyes.

If you’re going to crush them for being poor representations of the winningest program in the history of Kentucky basketball, though, you have to be prepared to lift them up when they are excellent representations, and I’m certainly at the front of the line there after calling them overpaid, heartless portal mercenaries a week ago after the 35-point Music City Massacre.

After some gutless performances up to this point, this team showed nothing but guts in its tough, gritty, grown-man 72-60 victory against Indiana to finally get in the win column against a team with a pulse. It sure feels good, huh?

Winning ugly is still a win

The best part about it is Kentucky, for lack of a better term, stunk up the joint offensively. I mean, my goodness, these Wildcats are a disaster on that end of the floor right now. That’s not a shot — Mark Pope said it over and over again after the win — it’s just the reality. They shot 37.9 percent from the field (22-58), 20.0 percent from three (3-15) and 65.8 percent at the line (25-38) for a combined 49 misses on field-goal and free-throw attempts. No player scored more than 14 points and only three hit the .500 mark. That’s after eight-plus-minute scoring droughts against North Carolina and Gonzaga. You can only laugh at this point.

Where they fell short in putting the ball in the basket, though, they made up for it in nastiness and physicality, ready to bring the fight to the Hoosiers to the point of getting them rattled down the stretch. They threw a haymaker to knock them to the mat in the second half, then kept punching until their candy-striped rivals couldn’t get back up.

Big Blue Nation was waiting to bring the Rupp Arena roof down, but never had a reason. Then the Wildcats turned an eight-point second-half deficit with 16:16 to go into a 12-point win, the fanbase finally rewarded after a long, long start to the season.

Riding the hot hand

That wouldn’t have happened without Pope letting things marinate and riding the hot hand there in the second half, only making 13 total substitutions after that eight-point deficit with 16:16 left on the clock. He stuck with the same starters out of halftime, but then cut the rotation down to Jaland Lowe, Otega Oweh, Kam Williams, Mo Dioubate and Brandon Garrison almost exclusively down the stretch.

Pope has been criticized all season for throwing too much at the wall just trying to see what stuck with too many moving pieces, but this time, he shrank the rotation with eight main guys — and just six in the second half.

That group forced Indiana to shoot just 27.3 percent overall and 10.0 percent from three after intermission while earning 26 bench points, 18 points off turnovers and 11 second-chance points.

Welcome to the show, Jaland Lowe

A big part of that push was Jaland Lowe playing more second-half minutes (15) than total playing time in either of his first two games back from injury, leading the team with nine points after the break and finishing with 13 total on 5-13 shooting with five rebounds, two assists, one steal and zero turnovers in 24 total minutes.

It’s clear he’s rusty — he said he’s still knocking some of that off and building confidence after the win — but, man, the difference in this team with Lowe on the floor vs. off is glaring. He plays with pace and keeps things moving, always looking for the open teammates or his own scoring opportunities. Everyone around him is better when the Pittsburgh transfer is on the floor, and that’s without any real shooting success at this point. Imagine if and when this team starts hitting shots? You can start seeing the vision come together with Lowe running the show.

“I keep going for these guys. I see how much these guys pour into me, and I just want to pour back, no matter if I’m on the court or off the court,” Lowe said afterward. “It’s been some dark days, but it can’t rain forever right now, so we’ve just gotta keep fighting.”

Now, can we get him in the starting lineup, for all that is good in this world? I’d rather not spot unnecessary leads to opponents, if at all possible.

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Brandon Garrison is our PARLOUR Pizza Player of the Game

Others had better stat lines; no one had a greater impact than Brandon Garrison.

The junior big was justifiably benched against NC Central, then responded with one of his best games of the season — and certainly his best against name-brand competition. He finished with six points on 3-6 shooting with five rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal, but it was his energy that flipped the game upside down, subbing in down five and returning to the bench with the Wildcats up for the first time since the eight-minute mark of the first half.

That 5:30 stretch included an assist, offensive rebound, second-chance layup, steal and a block, doing just a little bit of everything to give Kentucky a massive spark and get the crowd on its feet.

It could’ve been easy for Garrison to pout or even quit after seeing his starting job taken away, watching his role slip to the point of a complete benching, Pope saying “he kind of broke some cardinal rules about wearing the Kentucky jersey” last time out. Instead, he responded by leading the team in sprints all week in practice, then leading the team to a win against the Hoosiers.

“There were 100 reasons why BG could have gone in the corner and complained with a teammate or called out to coaches or hung up his jersey or come and been a pouty guy in practice,” Pope said. “There were 1,000 reasons why that could have been his reaction, but due to what’s inside him, and how he wants to be a father, an example to his son, and how he wants to make his mom proud, and how badly he wants to be successful in the process of him growing up to be, hopefully, a great man, which hopefully he can do.

“That would be worth everything.”

Make PARLOUR your game day destination! From award-winning pizzas like The Dr. or fan favorite Hot Honey Pepperoni to PARLOUR’s famous house-smoked wings and extensive craft beer selection, PARLOUR has a menu that will please the whole family! Their location on Harrodsburg Road is just a short drive from Rupp Arena.

Don’t miss out on their great Happy Hour. Come in Monday thru Friday from 2-6pm to enjoy discounted pints, cocktails, and starters.

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Whether you’re sipping a hand-crafted cocktail or sharing one of our signature pizzas, PARLOUR is a place where great food and good times come together naturally.

Mo Dioubate with the birthday double-double

It’s a good night for the Wildcats when the leading scorer with the best all-around production is the last player brought up in a double-digit win. Or maybe we were just saving the best for last? We’ll call it that, especially since it was Mo Dioubate’s birthday on Saturday and he put on quite the show.

He hasn’t played since November 18, missing five straight games with a high-ankle sprain with his status against the Hoosiers very much in question. Then he went out and scored 14 points with 12 rebounds and five steals in 22 minutes, the coolest part of his stat line being the seven offensive boards he pulled down to lead the way on Kentucky’s 18 second-chance points.

“This was a game perfectly suited for Mo,” Pope said. “He was elite on the defensive end. His physicality and doing it legal was elite. He was great on the glass. It was awesome to have him back. He’s such a great competitor; I think it’s been killing him to be out. It was great to have him back.”

Maybe he was the missing piece all along? Or he just needs to be on the floor with Lowe at all times? Whatever it was, all of that heart and toughness we said this team missed, he brought it right back to will this team to victory. Dioubate was phenomenal in his return to the point of dreaming big about the possibilities with Jayden Quaintance nearing his debut and Lowe finally finding his footing.

It’s almost like missing three starters hurts a team, right?