Middle-eight woes continue for Kentucky: "They just wanted it more."

An identical script from Kentucky‘s previous loss to Vanderbilt on Senior Night — and many others among 11 total on the year. Early momentum, then a coast to halftime, followed by a sluggish start to open the second half. Fight back late, only to let the same lapses pile up in the final minutes to seal the loss.

Rewind, repeat.

The Wildcats led 34-27 with 3:04 to go in the half, then allowed a 12-0 run for the Commodores to go into the break up 39-34. And then to open the second, a 13-8 win in the first four-minute segment to go up 12 with 15:43 to go. Cut it to three with 7:02 to go, then four with 1:42 remaining, free throw opportunities in the final minute to bring it back to three. Missed chance after missed chance.

And it all stems from that middle-eight portion of the game, the final segment of the first and first segment of the second. It’s where the momentum was flipped and confidence was built.

“If you give a guy beer muscles, they take advantage and run with it,” John Calipari said after the loss. “But you got to make it to where it’s not three, it’s one, or you’re up one. Can’t be six. The rim is that big. You’re making free throws. At one point in the game the rim is a little smaller.

“We never got to it. Got it to three and never busted through. We had opportunities”

Kentucky opened the game up 14-4, ready to make a statement. Then settled, let Vanderbilt feel it could claw back to win. And it did.

“We just came out with a lack of energy,” freshman guard Cason Wallace said of his team’s response to open the second half. “They came out and went on that run first. I feel like if we came out and made our run first, it would’ve been a different ball game.”

Sure would have. And that’s the issue. We’ve seen that same punch in the mouth over and over again this season, sometimes to open games, to close out the first half or open the second. Down the stretch, defensive lapses and missed free throws, an inability to come up with stops. The lack of complete 40-minute efforts is maddening.

“This is the time where everyone wants to win. We can’t come out and lollygag for two or three minutes,” senior forward Jacob Toppin said. “We have to play for 40 minutes, good basketball and winning basketball. … The whole game, defensively, we were terrible. They were getting anything they wanted. We came in at halftime and discussed what we needed to do, but obviously we didn’t do it to the best of our abilities. We’ve just got to be better.”

“Just have to compete more on the defensive end, keep their guards out of the lane and contest threes,” senior guard CJ Fredrick explained. “We just go through couple-minute lapses where we just break down. You saw tonight, a team like this, when you break down, they’ll make you pay. We just dug ourselves into too deep of a hole. In the second half, they just did the same thing. We had some breakdowns and they just wanted it more. We’ve got to correct that.”

“Shoot, they made a lot of tough shots, even when we stayed solid,” freshman forward Chris Livingston added. “We had a couple of breakdowns defensively, then didn’t make free throws, fouled in tough positions. Just didn’t stay solid. That didn’t help us out.”

But why? Why are there so many lapses and stretches of taking their foot off the gas? And how does that happen again in this matchup specifically, just over one week after taking an eerily similar loss?

Now entering NCAA Tournament play, it’s an uncomfortable reality that we’re still asking the same questions. And the answers almost always come back to some form of fight or refuse to lose or stay locked in.

32 games into the season. One loss away from said season ending entirely.

“I guess you can say concerned (about the recurring issues),” Toppin added. “At this point out, if you lose, you’re done. As long as everyone understands that, we’re going to fight and we’re going to continue to fight as long as we can until we lose. … Nobody likes losing, obviously. We take that to heart when we lose.”

Not the players’ fault — that’s the message from up top. They’re all consistent with it — and to their credit, it’s what has sparked the responses. Two separate four-game winning streaks following brutal mid-year losses vs. South Carolina and on the road at Georgia.

But now, there is no margin for error. You lose now and the story is over.

“I know we’re going to have a little talk when we get back, let everybody get their minds right for the Tournament,” Wallace said. “I have a lot of faith in us, I’m not going to lose any hope.”

“As long as everybody is in the right mindset, everyone is right physically, we have a chance to make a run,” Toppin added. “We’re going to watch film, get better, make sure everyone is mentally right and physically right so we can be ready for whoever we play in the Tournament.”

“We’re a tough group, a tough-minded group. I don’t feel like any team has been through what we’ve been through all year. We have no choice but to power through this and head into the Tournament strong to showcase how hard we’ve been working all year. That’s the goal.”

It’s now officially do-or-die time for the Wildcats.