Another special Rob Dillingham performance was wasted

Rob Dillingham looked every bit like a top-five NBA Draft pick down the stretch of Kentucky’s heartbreaking 75-74 loss to LSU.

The 6-foot-2 freshman guard absolutely torched the Tigers’ defense in the second half. He was getting buckets in the toughest ways possible: quick pull-ups, layups through two defenders, contested stepback jumpers, it didn’t seem to matter how. LSU could have triple-teamed him and he’d still have found a way to score.

Dillingham scored 21 of his 23 points in the final 10:04 of the second half, including the final 12 points for Kentucky and what appeared to be the game-winning bucket with 13 seconds on the clock — arguably his toughest shot of the entire night. He was clearly pissed off and it made him unguardable. LSU had zero answers.

Rob Dillingham did everything he could tonight… and in my eyes he hit the game winner tonight.. vs LSU..

23 PTS (8-16 FG, 2-5 3PT)
1 REB
1 STL

How we feeling ATP.. yall still don’t get #1 pick vibes? pic.twitter.com/BpV3AvvEZn

— Frankie Vision (@Frankie_Vision) February 22, 2024

Unfortunately, after his go-ahead jumper, LSU came right down the floor and was gifted a layup right at the buzzer. Ball game. Another incredible Rob Dillingham performance sunk down the drain. UK is now 3-4 when he scores at least 18 points. His season-high 35-point performance against Tennessee on Feb. 3 was the biggest waste of them all, but Wednesday night wasn’t too far behind. This game was at least winnable in the final possessions.

Granted, if we trim the 18-point minimum threshold down to 16 points, Kentucky is 9-5 on the season. However, bump it to 20 and UK is now 3-3, with two of those 20-point outings coming in blowout wins over Stonehill and Vanderbilt. Kentucky has lost close games to LSU, Florida, and Kansas with Dillingham scoring at least 18 points. The ‘Cats likely lose to Tennessee by more than 11 if not for Dilly’s red-hot performance against the Volunteers.

When Dillingham gets cooking, it tends to come out of desperation. He bails out his underperforming teammates by going nuclear — although his defense will regularly counteract some of the good he does on offense. He even admitted that LSU’s buzzer-beating layup was mostly on him.

“I gave up a little bit on the last play, so that was definitely on me a little,” Dillingham said. “A lot a bit, actually.”

But even still, outside of Dillingham, only one Wildcat made a field goal in the final 10 minutes against LSU. Someone else has to step up and make plays. Kentucky can’t continue to waste this special of a talent.