Kentucky WBB's loss to North Carolina will be used as learning tool: 'No one ever wants to lose, but it's inevitable'

Kentucky’s first loss of the season was an ugly one. The Cats played behind from start to finish, and it was just a bad game in every aspect. But now that it’s behind us, Kenny Brooks plans on using the North Carolina game as a learning tool.

“We have a lot to learn from it,” Brooks said to UK Sports Network’s Darren Headrick following the game. “You never want to lose. No one ever wants to lose, but it’s inevitable. I don’t think anybody’s gonna go undefeated this year. Then, what do you do with a loss? Do you learn from it? Do you dwell on it? We have a lot to learn from. In no way, shape or form did I think we were going to go undefeated, but I was disappointed with our execution today — our effort.”

From the get-go, it seemed like North Carolina wanted it more. The Tar Heels made the hustle plays, and the Cats didn’t. That played a large part in the outcome of the game.

“We were slow. We were slow to the ball,” Brooks explained. “They beat us on every 50/50 ball and got second chance opportunities. Every time that they got a second chance opportunity, it seemed like they scored. Especially early on in the game, we just looked like we were dragging a bit. So, we have a lot to learn from this. It’s a long season.”

And you have to give credit to Courtney Banghart and her team. Sure, Kentucky didn’t play up to its standards, but part of that is a product of North Carolina executing their gameplan. They’re a very, very good team. It makes more sense now that they held UConn, who could very well be the best team in the country, under 70 points, only losing to the Huskies by 11 on a neutral court.

“This is a good team we played,” Brooks mentioned. “It’s not like we came out and laid an egg. You see it all across college athletics. You look at Kansas’ men last night, they lost to a good Creighton team, but it happens. The good thing is that it only counts as one loss. We’ll get back after it, but there’s a lot to learn from this.”

Kentucky will have a chance to right the wrong when they take on the Queens Royals at 6 p.m. EST in Historic Memorial Coliseum on Monday.