Jacob Toppin takes blame for Senior Night defeat: "Put this loss on me"

There are myriad reasons why Kentucky couldn’t pull off the win against Vanderbilt during the Wildcats’ 68-66 loss on Senior Night. Shooting 32 percent overall from the field and 3-19 from deep were certainly a couple of them, as was losing Cason Wallace early in the second half due to a lower leg injury. Missing seven free throws after halftime didn’t help, either. Neither did finishing with just six total assists due to a severely depleted backcourt.

But even still, Kentucky was a last-second shot away from sneaking out of Rupp Arena with a win. It was a tough loss to swallow, especially with it coming on a night when six seniors were honored pregame. To pile on, Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse had never beaten UK until Wednesday night.

That being said, this isn’t the end of the Wildcats’ season by any means. One more game against Arkansas and then the SEC Tournament awaits before March Madness truly begins. Kentucky is still firmly in the NCAA Tournament picture despite losing to Vandy. But that doesn’t mean the loss doesn’t sting a bit more than others.

Jacob Toppin, in what was possibly his final game at Rupp Arena, took the defeat tougher than most.

“I would put this loss on me because of what I did in the first half that sparked their run,” The 6-foot-9 senior forward said postgame.

Toppin finished his night with just seven points on 1-7 shooting, ending his streak of consecutive double-digit scoring outings at 12. He managed to haul in 10 rebounds but struggled to find a rhythm on offense. Once the game was over, he shouldered blame for the result, pointing to his poor attitude as the reason why Vanderbilt engineered a timely run.

“In life, there’s a lot of things you can’t control,” Toppin said. “Two things you can control is your attitude and how you approach certain situations. Towards the end of the first half, I messed up on two plays and then Coach (John Calpari) said something to me and I got a attitude. I got selfish, and I argued back with him, told him to take me out. And that was selfish. That was selfish of me. I let my teammates down in the first half because that’s what sparked their run.”

With two minutes remaining in the first half, Kentucky led by four, 30-26. Once the game went into halftime, Vanderbilt held a 34-30 advantage. Toppin was subbed out in the midst of that mini-run from the Commodores, checking out with 52 seconds left before Vandy drilled a three at the buzzer. He gave up a corner three for Vanderbilt and then failed to fight for an offensive rebound that led to a score for the other team.

After leading for the vast majority of the first half, Kentucky suddenly found itself in a hole that would only grow deeper once Wallace went down.

“We shouldn’t have been in the game with them,” Toppin added. “So that’s why I’m putting this game on me. I’ve got to be better, especially as a leader. I can’t have those outbursts, I got to be better. Moving forward I’m gonna control my emotions, I’m gonna control my actions and approach every situation the right way.”

Toppin wasn’t the only one who took responsibility for the loss, though. Fellow senior guard Antonio Reeves, who shot 4-17 from the floor and missed the would-be game-winner at the buzzer, also said postgame that he is at fault for how the outcome played out, adding that other players in the locker room were apologetic, too.

While it’s refreshing to see players holding themselves accountable instead of pointing fingers elsewhere, no one individual is solely guilty of this loss. Kentucky was in a position to win down the stretch but simply missed too many shots to pull it off. There is still plenty of season left to forget this game ever even happened and make a run in March.

“We’re still writing our story, we’re not gonna dwell on this loss, we still have Arkansas, we still have the SEC Tournament, and then people got to see us in the NCAA Tournament so we’re not really worried about this loss,” Toppin added. “It’s past us already so we’re gonna go watch film tomorrow and see what we can do to be better. And just move forward.”