Kentucky makes second-half response vs. Texas A&M-Commerce

Things got a hair too uncomfortable in the first half, Kentucky trailing by as many as 13 points with 12:22 to go. Texas A&M-Commerce had made five of its first eight 3-pointers — most of which wide-open thanks to some lackluster defensive effort on the Wildcats’ part. Ball movement was an issue too, rust on one end leading to stagnant play on the other.

That’s how you get down 21-8 against a team ranked No. 304 in the updated KenPom — No. 314 overall offense and No. 270 defense.

And then one Reed Sheppard steal changed the entire game, that deflection and transition bucket leading to a 30-9 run for the Wildcats to close out the half. A 21-8 deficit turned into a 38-30 lead in a matter of minutes.

Veterans save the day

Antonio Reeves was the scoring difference, racking up 13 points on three 3-pointers at the break. He was the offensive spark, ending the game with a team-high 21 points on 8-13 shooting. Tre Mitchell was second on the team in scoring at the break (seven), then exploded in the second half to finish with 18 total.

“He is at ease with who he is as a player,” John Calipari said of Reeves. “He has no anxiety about who he is as a player. … They are finding him for shots and he’s making them. The reason we were up at half is because he came out and made some shots, bam-bam-bam. All of a sudden, you are up.”

The two veterans took a step back in Kentucky’s season-opening win vs. New Mexico State, four freshmen finishing as the team’s top scorers. Then when the Wildcats took an early punch in the mouth in game two, it was the pair of fifth-year seniors leading the charge on the comeback.

Shorthanded Wildcats even shorter

Kentucky only had seven players available with Adou Thiero added to the injury report this week, entering concussion protocol after smacking his head on the floor in the opener. Zvonimir Ivisic warmed up with the team, but has not yet been declared eligible, while Aaron Bradshaw and Ugonna Onyenso remain out with foot issues.

Jordan Burks was the only player with fewer than 29 minutes for the Wildcats, picking up five rebounds and four fouls in 15 minutes. Everyone else on the roster was forced into a heavy workload, five of the seven taking at least ten shots — Sheppard (1-5) and Burks (0-1) were the only outliers.

With higher volume came worse efficiency, Justin Edwards being the only non-senior shooting above 38% on the night, finishing 6-10 overall. Rob Dillingham (4-13 FG, 1-6 3PT) and D.J. Wagner (5-13 FG) finished in double figures — 12 points for the former and 11 for the latter — but struggled to find their respective shots.

Good news: Thiero may be back when the Wildcats take the floor in Chicago.

“I’m hoping,” Calipari said postgame. “I’m hoping, we’ll see.”

But still, the Wildcats are expected to be lacking 21 feet of frontcourt depth once again — not that opposing teams care.

“You think anybody is feeling sorry for us?” Calipari added. “They hope two more guys get hurt.”

A fast team playing faster?

It’s hard to complain about a 4-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, 12-3 on the night. The ball stuck a bit early, but the Wildcats took care of it from start to finish, no player turning it over more than once individually.

But is it possible that Kentucky played too conservatively in the 20-point win? Calipari thinks it’s possible, something that may need to be addressed moving forward.

“Would you say we played pretty fast? We had three turnovers,” he said. “Now I’m wondering if we’re not being aggressive enough. How in the heck do you end a game with three turnovers? That’s ridiculous.”

Kentucky was able to spread the lead when the ball started whipping around the floor and it found ways to get out in transition, scoring 17 off turnovers and 23 on fastbreaks. Keep it moving and get downhill, that’s the recipe for success with this squad.

Have to stay in front

It wasn’t just the wide-open looks from deep the Wildcats gave up early. They had their fair share of ‘want-to’ defensive plays that saw TAMC guards simply beat Kentucky’s backcourt talent off the dribble for paint touches. That’s now on film to see for future opponents.

“You have to string some plays together. The problem we had was we were getting beat off the dribble. We have guards that we’re saying, ‘You are supposed to be able to play the ball’ and they got by us. They knew they played that way, some of the stuff we had gone over. …You’ve got all of these teams, they are going to watch and say, let’s spread the court and beat them on the bounce. If you are trying to run your offense, we’re all right. But when the ball moved and it was just ‘beat somebody off the dribble,’ we weren’t so good.

“… You have got to be able to guard. You guard, you play. If you can’t guard and you are giving up too many baskets, it’s hard here.”

The good news? That’s fixable. A lot of that boils down to effort and staying engaged, fighting to make stops. Kentucky didn’t do that at times, and it resulted in an early haymaker tossed its way.

“At the end of the day, his will to drive and your will to stay in front of him is what it comes down to. He’s trying to get by you and you are not going to let him.”

It never hurts to face an early test, especially ahead of arguably the biggest non-conference matchup of the season. Winning by 50 is fun, but what do you get out of that? Facing a little adversity gives you something to learn from.

“I loved it,” Calipari said.