Jacob Toppin's mini-hot streak comes to an unfortunate end

Jacob Toppin rediscovered his touch over the last week. The Kentucky Wildcats’ senior forward combined to drop 45 points in wins over Louisville and LSU, inspiring fans along the way with unexpected openness regarding his mental health struggles. He pulled himself out of a dark place and found his confidence, flexing his bright smile after every made shot.

During Kentucky’s 78-52 blowout loss to Alabama on Saturday afternoon, Toppin was dealt the task of defending arguably the nation’s top freshman in 6-foot-9 wing Brandon Miller. For the most part, he did an impressive job on the hot-shooting rookie, who leads the Crimson Tide in scoring at 19 PPG and shoots over 44 percent from distance. At the halftime break, Miller had just seven points on 2-6 shooting with Toppin serving as his primary defender.

But on the flip side, Toppin went 0-6 from the field during the opening 20 minutes of play — taking and missing the same mid-range jumpers and hook shots he’d made the previous two outings — and was tagged with his second foul ahead of the under-four-minute timeout. At that juncture, Kentucky was still very much in the game, trailing by just two points, 21-19, despite a poor shooting performance from the Wildcats. However, over the next 3:51, Alabama would outscore UK 14-5 heading into the intermission as Toppin watched from the bench. Five of Miller’s seven first-half points came during that stretch.

Kentucky would have surely preferred more from Toppin on the offensive end, but his defense was helping keep the ‘Cats alive. We can debate whether or not head coach John Calipari should have let Toppin play through the two fouls to close the first half, but that’s an entirely different can of worms. It didn’t happen, and Alabama went on a game-deciding run in part because of it.

Unfortunately, things would only get worse for Toppin, but not necessarily because of things he could control. He started the second half for Kentucky, knocking down a late-clock triple that was reminiscent of his game-sealing shot from the corner against LSU a few days ago. But as a collective group, UK had already mentally checked out — Toppin included. Alabama ballooned its lead to as many 31 points as the ‘Cats laid down. Toppin’s smile was wiped off his face.

Then, with under 10 minutes left in regulation and Kentucky down by 25, Toppin injured his shoulder. There was no update provided after the game regarding his status, but he was in clear pain on the bench and ultimately went back to the locker room. He was quickly ruled out for the remainder of the game as the Crimson Tide went on to win by 26 points in a historic loss for UK.

When it was all said and done, Toppin finished the afternoon with three points and six rebounds on a 1-10 shooting clip in 25 minutes. Just a week ago, he looked to be a critical piece in Kentucky potentially turning the season around. But now, fans will just have to hope he’s not out for an extended period of time.