KSR Today: Comprehending an Ugly Kentucky Loss in a Foul-Fest at Georgia

by:Nick Roush•about 23 hours•

RoushKSR

Kentucky G Otega Oweh goes for a lose ball vs. Georgia, via Dale Zanine, Imagn Images

Wow. That was something. Kentucky made its first SEC road trip and it was ugly in so many different ways. The Wildcats dropped to 0-2 in true road games with an 82-69 loss at Georgia.

The officiating will probably be the first thing everyone talks about from the game. After all, it took 2.5 hours to reach the finish line after at least nine trips to the monitor. We saw officials blow their whistle early and often, with 44 personal fouls called in 40 minutes of basketball. Georgia scored 29 points from the charity stripe, while Kentucky only shot 19 free throws.

Nobody likes the “blame the refs” guy, but it’s an unavoidable topic of discussion after witnessing what happened at Stegeman Coliseum. It’s also a good distraction from the more concerning parts of the loss.

Clear Trend in Kentucky Losses

The blueprint against Kentucky is clear — be physical. SEC opponents are going to use it to try to rattle Kentucky. That’s because once the Cats take a few body blows, they quit sharing the basketball.

Kentucky led the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio entering Tuesday night’s loss to Georgia with 2.094 assists for every turnover. Here’s who that assist-to-turnover ratio looks like in three losses:

Clemson: 11/12
Ohio State: 11/10
Georgia: 8/14

It’s not just losing the rebounding battle inside or giving up second-chance points, Kentucky becomes a different, more selfish team when they get roughed up a little. That needs to be nipped in the bud in a hurry.

So, about Jaxson Robinson…

Throughout the roster-building process, he was BBN’s White Whale, the dynamic scorer Kentucky desperately needed to complete Mark Pope’s first team. That guy just hasn’t been there. What’s worse? We’re not seeing much of anything at all from Jaxson Robinson.

Robinson took 5 three-pointers and made one. He also made a pair of free throws and had four fouls. There wasn’t much else to show for in his game. Robinson has never been an efficient scorer, and we’ve given him a lot of leeway as he tries to find a rhythm at Kentucky, but when you’re getting beat backdoor by Blue Cain, it’s time to start asking a very difficult question — is this all we’re going to get from Jaxson Robinson this year? He needs to find his way out of this funk sooner rather than later.

“It’s just the ebb and flow of the game. That’s all it is,” head coach Mark Pope said after the loss. “Jaxson’s been doing this for a long time. He’s a shot-maker. The most important thing for Jaxson, for all our guys, is we don’t actually carry that baggage around.”

Got thoughts? Continue the conversation on KSBoard, the KSR Message Board.

More Coverage from the Kentucky Loss to Georgia

Troubling lows will begin to cancel out historic highs if Cats aren’t careful
Georgia was the Clemson game all over again
Mark Pope refuses to use free throw disparity as an excuse
Andrew Carr says Kentucky must get ‘more nasty, angry when we’re playing’
Mark Pope Calls for More Toughness
Georgia Loss Serves as Serious Wake-Up Call
WATCH: Mark Pope Recaps the Loss
BOX SCORE: Georgia Free Throw Rate Buries Kentucky
RECAP: Kentucky Punked by Georgia

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It Could Always Be Worse

Tennessee was the No. 1 team in the country. They almost scored one point per minute in a 30-point loss. According to OptaStats, Tennessee is the only Division I team this century to shoot 30% or worse on 2-pointers, 15% or worse on 3-pointers, and 60% or worse on free throws in a single game. It couldn’t happen to a nicer group of people.

The Vols had 15 points at the half, to a team Kentucky scored 106 against on Saturday. What?!? It’s incomprehensible. The final score was 73-43. The results from the SEC are an indictment on just how nutty league play is going to be this year.

No. 2 Auburn 87, Texas 82
No. 14 Miss. State 76, Vanderbilt 64
Missouri 83, LSU 67

Tonight No. 5 Alabama is on the road at South Carolina (7 pm, SEC Network), No. 23 Ole Miss is at Arkansas (7 pm, ESPN2), and No. 17 Oklahoma hosts No. 10 Texas A&M (9 pm SEC Network).

Hear from the Kentucky Head Basketball Coach

The Mark Pope Show is typically on Monday nights. The Tuesday road trip altered those plans. Instead, we’ll hear from him tonight at 6 pm EST on UK Sports Network affiliates around the state. Hopefully, the one-hour postmortem will provide more solutions to the problems we saw in Athens.

For the record, the only two Mark Pope Shows on Wednesday nights have been the day after Kentucky losses. There are two more Wednesday night Mark Pope Shows road trips on the docket following trips to Tennessee and Ole Miss. It’d be nice if this trend ends in Knoxville.

A 40-Year-Old Should Not Be Able To Do This

The human mind cannot comprehend LeBron James. This is one of the more jaw-dropping dunks I’ve seen in my lifetime. We’ve spent decades glorifying Michael Jordan’s hand-switch in mid-air while driving down the lane. LeBron just did that and dunked it — at 40! FORTY. Mike Gundy was screaming about his quarterback at that age. LeBron James is out here doing things no human should be able to do ever at age 40. Hate him or love him, the man is 1-of-1.