Kentucky enters perilous territory leaving Tuscaloosa with blowout loss

Remember Kentucky’s second-half crumble against LSU, the grind-it-out effort that saw the Wildcats score just 14 points in the final 10 minutes — six coming on last-second 3-point heaves at the end of the shot clock — to turn a 10-point lead into a nailbiting two-point win? Imagine that late stretch, but over the course of a full 40 minutes.

That’s what Kentucky rolled out in Tuscaloosa, deliberately grinding away while Alabama cruised to an absolute curb-stomping of a victory, winning 78-52. In a statement opportunity for the Wildcats, they sure said something, shouting it from the rooftops for all to hear: “Unprepared.”

Or was it “outcoached“? Maybe “dissonant pieces” or even “incompatible”? “Uncompetitive”? Sorry, I’m not sure. I couldn’t hear over the “N-I-T!” and “Cal to Texas!” chants inside Coleman Coliseum.

What a disaster, Kentucky’s worst loss to Alabama in series history at 26 points. It tops a 25-point beatdown vs. the Crimson Tide in 1990. It’s also tied for the third-fewest points in a single game (52) under John Calipari since he arrived in Lexington. Third-worst shooting percentage (28.8% FG), as well.

This was a chance for Kentucky to put the early-season woes behind and prove it belonged atop the SEC while remaining in the conversation nationally. The Wildcats made progress vs. Louisville and LSU, specifically when it comes to camaraderie and positive vibes. It wasn’t perfect — again, look at the late-game execution against the Tigers — but baby steps were made. Chemistry, ball movement and spacing improved and players were in a better headspace. Mini breakthroughs, if you will, things to build on moving forward.

And then yet another regression for the Wildcats, inarguably the worst of the season. Kentucky hit just 21 of its 73 shot attempts overall, including five makes on 20 tries from three. Seven assists compared to 11 turnovers, four fastbreak points and two points off turnovers. 20 offensive rebounds, but just 15 second-chance points to show for it. Defensively, the team gave up 13 layups, four dunks and eight 3-pointers out of 26 total makes for the Crimson Tide — easy offense.

Individually, Oscar Tshiebwe put forth his worst game in two years at Kentucky. Four points on 1-7 shooting to go with six rebounds and four turnovers in 23 minutes. It’s the first time he’s been outrebounded in a game for the Wildcats — Brandon Miller had seven. He was swarmed on every touch, as many as five Tide defenders on him at any given time. Swipe down at him when he brings the ball down and he’s going to turn it over, force a bad shot or hold the ball even longer before kicking it out for yet another prayer at the end of the shot clock. It’s the blueprint to beating Kentucky, as UCLA brought to light before Alabama followed the instructions to perfection.

And then there was the defense, the reason Calipari had no choice but to sit Tshiebwe for 17 minutes — 17 more than he typically prefers. The Tide attacked him in the pick-and-roll from the opening position and continued until Kentucky was smart enough to bring in reinforcements. He was stuck in no man’s land more often than not, giving up dunks and lay-ups around the basket while also allowing clean looks out to the perimeter. He got cooked, to put it lightly. Daimion Collins, Ugonna Onyenso and Lance Ware combined for 32 minutes, by far the most we’ve seen since the early non-conference schedule — ironically enough, also when games weren’t competitive.

Tshiebwe was exposed early and the rest of the team folded like a lawn chair around him. Well, that’s not totally fair. Sahvir Wheeler fought from start to finish and his efforts should be noted. Collins gave Kentucky good minutes, as did Adou Thiero. Antonio Reeves struggled defensively, but at least he made shots, leading the team with 20 points on 7-13 shooting and 4-7 from three — though two of those threes came in the final 30 seconds when the team was down by a million.

Elsewhere, though, it was an implosion of epic proportions. Cason Wallace finished the day with just two points on 1-13 shooting and 0-6 from three after playing just five first-half minutes due to foul trouble. Just couldn’t get in any semblance of a rhythm. Jacob Toppin, who oozed confidence in each of Kentucky’s last two games, scored three points on 1-10 shooting. His lone make was a 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock. Nine points on 3-30 shooting combined between Tshiebwe, Wallace and Toppin.

Hell, Kentucky had its chances too. Alabama’s two best players, Brandon Miller and Mark Sears, didn’t put points on the board until the 7:32 mark in the first half — a two-point game at that point. Then they combined for 10 to close out the half before going off after intermission, as expected. The dynamic duo would finish with a total of 35 points, the same number of points the Wildcats had as a team with 10 minutes to go down 25 points.

Inexcusable. Embarrassing. Telling.

Look, Kentucky has no business being in the NCAA Tournament midway through the regular season — 48.4% of the way, to be exact. Nothing about the school’s resume indicates they’re even close to postseason contention right now. 1-5 in games played outside of Rupp Arena with zero Quad 1 wins (0-4) and one Quad 2 win (1-1). The Wildcats have not yet proven they can win a game that matters, a sobering reality just two months away from the SEC Tournament in Nashville. Calipari can stress patience all he wants, but he’s running out of time. This team is running out of time to figure it out.

Another sobering reality? Nothing about this group has indicated that it will or even can. The Louisville win was, well, Louisville, and it took some late heroics to avoid a major choke job against LSU, a team UK could and should have beaten by double figures. Regressions of this magnitude, this late just don’t spark any sign of optimism going into the meat of the SEC schedule.

A continued gripe, nothing about this group is cohesive. As most teams slowly inch closer together throughout a season and build on-court chemistry, this one is actively crumbling, especially now. They looked like a glorified pick-up team at Missouri last week, and now, that almost seems like an oversell. It’s a group that calls ‘next’ at the local gym and is told to go play on the kiddie goals. No meshing, no chemistry, no confidence. Teams aren’t scared of this group of Wildcats. If anything, it’s the other way around, something that seems so unfathomable at a school like Kentucky.

How did we get this far, where the apathy kills the passion fans were world famous for? It’s hard to even get mad anymore or expect anything different. Kentucky is now 4-14 against top-25 competition since the start of the 2020-21 season, 11-22 in its last 33 games against Quad 1 foes — again, teams that matter. When’s the last time we walked into a game like this one and genuinely felt — not “Cats by 90” confident, but actually confident — UK was going to take care of business? Years ago, you’d count down the days to this game on the calendar. You’d buy tickets and make the trip to Tuscaloosa, or sneak inside the venue if the game was sold out. That was, “You’re gonna hate me, ’cause I come to your town and we beat your team” Kentucky. They’ve obviously won on the road since then — last year at Kansas being the big one — but the vibe has just been different lately. This team certainly hasn’t helped.

Sometimes rosters just don’t mesh. The individual talent can be there, but if the pieces don’t work together, then it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. We’re quickly approaching that territory with this group. They just don’t match, like trying to shove a square peg in a round hole. No knowing where teammates are most comfortable on the floor or in situations they like, placed in positions to succeed. You pick up habits like that early and build on them throughout a season. This group, at the midway point of the year, is struggling to learn those things.

Maybe an epiphany hits and the team begins to (finally) fire on all cylinders. Maybe a clear breakthrough comes before it’s too late, with the offense finally finding what works and playing to the individual strengths while the defense ramps up its efforts. That’d be ideal, what everyone is rooting for.

Now tell me if you really believe that. I want to, really, but nothing about this team indicates a breakthrough is on the horizon. Sometimes things just are what they are, and unfortunately, that seems to be the case here.

Going into the season, it was Final Four or bust. You don’t go from 9-16 to St. Peter’s and not make a run, right? Hard to make a run when your resume indicates you shouldn’t even be in the field.