KSR's takeaways from Kentucky's disaster in Nashville

It was a middle-eight disaster for Kentucky last week vs. Vanderbilt on Senior Night. The Wildcats were up 26-21 with four minutes to go in the first half before allowing a 13-4 run for the Commodores to go up 34-30 at the half. And then to open the second, Vandy put together another 12-5 run to go up 11 with 15:12 to go.

The Wildcats managed to retake the lead with 1:10 to go, but gave up back-to-back buckets in the final minute to ruin the comeback effort. What killed them in the final segment of the first and first segment of the second ultimately did them in to earn the loss.

You couldn’t ask for a closer script in the follow-up matchup just over a week later. Kentucky led 34-27 with 3:04 to go before allowing a 12-0 run to give Vanderbilt a 39-34 lead at the half. And then to open the second, a quick 6-2 run that would turn into a 13-8 win in the first segment overall to push the lead to 12 points with 15:43 to go.

Rewind, repeat. Middle-eight disaster. In a game the Wildcats once led 14-4 just over six minutes in, back-to-back losses in momentum-swinging segments.

Like the last matchup, Kentucky fought back. Up two with 1:10 to go last week, down three with 7:02 remaining and four with 1:42 left this time around, the chances were there. But again, those two damn segments set the tone for the finish — missed shots and defensive lapses.

Free-throw shooting kills the Cats

Kentucky finished the game just 11-20 overall at the line — 11-22 if you consider the one-and-one misses. 9-16 in the second half (sure do hate seeing those two numbers together again). And the misses were situationally brutal, five coming in the final four minutes, two with 37 seconds to go for a chance to cut it to three.

It doesn’t help when the Commodores hit 18 of 20 attempts at the line overall and 16 of 18 in the second half. Two more attempts in the final 20 minutes — would have been the same number had the Wildcats hit their one-and-ones — seven more makes in a seven-point loss.

Math checks out.

Cason Wallace returns (but isn’t 100%)

It was an up-and-down return for the standout freshman on both ends of the floor. Clearly bothered by his twisted ankle, Wallace struggled as an on-ball defender, beat off the dribble by Vanderbilt’s elite guards on numerous occasions (more on that in a minute). He was still active in the passing lanes, picking up three steals to set up transition opportunities the other way.

Offensively, he finished with seven points on 3-10 shooting and 1-6 from three while adding five assists, four rebounds and just one turnover in 37 minutes. One filthy fadeaway three in the early minutes of the game, then two pull-up mid-range jumpers, seven other misses sprinkled between.

That doesn’t matter — the team shot 42.4% from the field overall and 24.0% from deep. Wallace wasn’t an efficiency outlier. The issue, though, is that 37-minute number. If you’re going to lose in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament, you at least want to get healthy in the process. Instead, your star freshman gets just three minutes of rest playing on a bum ankle.

Oh, and he also went knee-to-knee on a Commodore, forcing him to limp to the bench and get treatment during the game — probably the only reason he sat three minutes. He said afterward he was in pain, but would be fine. The big-picture point, though, remains. High minutes, a new ailment added to the injury report and a deflating loss. Worst-case scenario for Wallace’s situation specifically.

Jacob Toppin may or may not be hurt (but he was terrific)

While we’re on the topic, is the senior forward injured? Depends on who you ask. If you talk to John Calipari, you’ll hear that Toppin practiced just one day this week and “wasn’t even sure they were going to play” between him and Wallace.

“I thought we were going to end up having to do what we did at Arkansas: just figure out how to get it up the court,” he said. “That’s what I thought we were going to do.”

If you ask Toppin, that wasn’t the case. At all.

“I don’t have an injury,” he told KSR. “I’m good.”

Sure clears things up, doesn’t it?

Either way, he played — really well, in fact. 21 points on 8-15 shooting to go with 11 rebounds, one block and one steal in 38 minutes. He missed some crucial free throws and was cold from three (2-7), but goodness, Toppin was terrific elsewhere. A force on the glass, specifically offensively (5). Putback finishes to go with big jumpers, none bigger than his 3-pointer with 45 seconds to cut it to five, followed by a forced turnover and drawn foul on a drive to the basket — inches away from an and-one dunk to potentially cut it to two.

Then, two missed free throws. Ball game.

Doesn’t get any worse than that, especially after such a strong performance the rest of the way.

Vanderbilt’s daggers and damn good guards

Kentucky’s defense was objectively not good. A long list of lapses in untimely situations, typically when the Wildcats were in desperate need of putting together stops. UK fell short in that area, no doubt about it.

But Vandy deserves credit, too, specifically in the backcourt. When clutch shot opportunities presented themselves, the Commodores delivered time and time again.

Ezra Manjon’s buzzer-beater with 6:30 to go was the biggest example. With Kentucky cutting the deficit from 12 to three, the Wildcats were one stop away from potentially tying the game for the first time since the 1:49 mark in the first half. They defended hard for 28 seconds of the shot clock, setting up a prayer as time expired — exactly what you hope for on a defensive possession.

Cash, nothing but net. Down six instead of having a shot to send it to overtime with a tie.

Similar situation with 1:11 to go, the Wildcats found themselves down just 73-69 and in need of a stop. Shot clock winding down, Tyrin Lawrence hit a fadeaway mid-range jumper to extend the Commodores’ lead to six points, a dagger. Again, Vanderbilt hit the shots that mattered while Kentucky did not. Story of the night.

Individually, the Vanderbilt guards were terrific, just as they’ve been all season. Manjon finished with a team-high 25 points on 8-11, followed by 18 apiece from Lawrence and Wright to close out the win. Thoroughly outplaying Kentucky’s group, this time to send them home in the conference tournament.

Is it a hot take to say Vanderbilt’s backcourt is better than Arkansas, one loaded with NBA talent? And the Commodores are firmly the better team overall? It’s an argument I’m willing to make — and the current bracket reflects. There isn’t a hotter team in the SEC (and maybe all of college basketball) than Vandy. Jerry Stackhouse’s group is deserving of an NCAA Tournament bid as an at-large — five Quad 1 wins and ten of its last 11 wins. But it comes at the expense of Kentucky failing to show consistency down the stretch, adding a second loss out of three matchups.