KSR's takeaways from Kentucky's loss vs. Tennessee in the SEC Tournament

Kentucky put forth its worst offensive performance of the season, losing to Tennessee in the SEC Tournament semifinals by a final score of 69-62. It was a loss that sent the Wildcats home with a 26-7 final record going into the NCAA Tournament, with the bracket reveal coming Sunday evening.

What went wrong for Kentucky in Tampa? What needs to be fixed when March Madness begins next weekend?

Historically poor shooting numbers

Kentucky finished the day shooting an abysmal 34.4 percent (22-64) from the field and 10.0 percent (2-20) from three. That came after the Wildcats shot just 27.6 percent (8-29) from the field and 0.0 percent (0-8) from three in the first half.

Individually, TyTy Washington, Sahvir Wheeler, Kellan Grady and Davion Mintz combined for just 10-41 from the field (24.4 percent) and 1-17 from three (5.9 percent). They scored 30 points as a unit — Washington led the way with 17 points among all guards — but it was a wildly inefficient performance overall. Historically poor, for that matter.

Kentucky went 0-6 from three against Davidson in the NCAA Tournament back in 2018, but in games where the Wildcats took at least 10 attempts, the team has not shot worse in March or April during Calipari’s time in Lexington. UK even shot better in its 2010 loss vs. West Virginia in the Elite Eight (4-32, 12.5 percent).

Overall, Kentucky has shot worse than 10 percent from three in a game just nine times total. UK has also shot worse than 34.4 percent from the field just 13 times under Calipari, five times in March or April.

The Wildcats were getting open looks, but shots simply weren’t falling. They fought back and cut the deficit to just three points with just 1:31 to go thanks to some tough makes and free throws, but missed four more 3-point attempts from that point on with zero made field goals. It just wasn’t Kentucky’s day shooting the ball.

Oscar Tshiebwe breaks Dan Issel’s double-double record

With 27 double-doubles on the year, Oscar Tshiebwe is now Kentucky’s all-time record holder for the stat, passing Dan Issel (26, 1969-70) to break the record. He previously tied Issel’s record during Friday’s quarterfinal win over Vanderbilt. It was the standout center’s 15th straight double-double, the most for a Wildcat since the stat was first collected in 1967-68.

In Kentucky’s loss to Tennessee, Tshiebwe finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds in just 25 minutes. After earning two quick fouls in the first half — he would play just eight minutes before intermission — he fouled out of the game with 3:50 to go in the game. It was the fewest minutes he’s played since Kentucky’s win over High Point on Dec. 31 (25).

During his time on the floor, Tshiebwe was effective, scoring through contact, drawing fouls and fighting on defense. He would shoot a team-high seven free throws, though he only sank three. He struggled against Tennessee’s length at times, but was still clearly able to impose his will during his relatively limited time on the floor.

With Kentucky’s time in the SEC Tournament now over, Tshiebwe becomes the only Division I player in the last 25 years to not be out-rebounded by an opposing player in any regular-season or conference tournament game in a season.

What happened to Kellan Grady’s confidence?

On the year, Kellan Grady is shooting 42.6 percent from three, far and away Kentucky’s best 3-point shooter and top-five in the conference. Taking a closer look, though, the fifth-year senior is just 5-23 from deep over his last six games, good for 21.7 percent.

Tonight, Grady finished just 1-8 from the field and 0-5 from three, putting just two points on the board. It’s just the fourth time this season he’s failed to make a 3-pointer.

It wasn’t just that Grady was missing, either. His shots were off — way off — but he looked clearly uncomfortable in catch-and-shoot scenarios, his specialty all season long. There were several times he simply refused to shoot, even when open looks presented himself. Calipari eventually had to sit him because he was a non-factor in the game, with the graduate transfer playing just 27 minutes total and nine in the second half.

The UK head coach ended up putting him back in for one final shot with 32 seconds to go, his first attempt since the 18:15 mark of the second half.

“Who did I get the last shot for that I thought could close the gap? I’m surprised somebody didn’t ask me, why would you do that? Because I really believe in (Grady),” Calipari said. “Even when he is playing that way, I believe in him. I told him, ‘Why do you think I did that?’ ‘Because you believe in me.’ Sometimes more than you’re believing in yourself. You miss two, and you think I’m going to miss ten.”

He didn’t miss ten, but he did miss seven shots total. Kentucky’s got to find a way to get Grady’s confidence back by next weekend.

Rick Barnes is now 10-7 against John Calipari at Kentucky

John Calipari and Rick Barnes may be great friends off the floor, but they’re rivals on the floor. And unfortunately for Kentucky, the Tennessee head coach has had the upper hand during Calipari’s time in Lexington.

In 17 head-to-head matchups, Barnes has won 10 games against Calipari, including 6-3 in their last nine games. With today’s win, the Volunteers officially won the season series 2-1, including back-to-back wins in February and March.

Calipari is a Hall of Famer, one of the best coaches in the history of the sport. But it’s fair to say Barnes has had Cal’s number over the last decade-plus of matchups.

Calipari isn’t a fan of Doug Shows and Pat Adams

John Calipari wouldn’t say this publicly at the risk of being fined, but he saw his least favorite officiating crew on Saturday, headlined by Doug Shows and Pat Adams.

No, they didn’t decide the game — Kentucky’s poor shooting did. They did, however, make several blatantly incorrect calls and took approximately 38 trips to the monitor to review things that were clear to the naked eye in real-time. It made a frustrating game infinitely more frustrating.

Calipari made that clear throughout the game, unleashing countless “Great call, Doug!” and “Way to go, Pat!” quips with sarcastic, drawn-out claps. He then made indirect jabs about the officiating during his postgame press conference — again, vague enough to avoid potential fines, but clear enough to make a statement.

The Kentucky head coach doesn’t talk about his favorite and least favorite officials publicly, but his actions during games speak louder than words. But sometimes both are available for public consumption.

Every so often I think about that time that John Calipari called Pat Adams "the f***ing worst official…"

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— Not Jerry Tipton (@NotJerryTipton) January 20, 2020

Kentucky is 91-38 in games officiated by Shows (70.5% win rate) and 53-21 (71.6% win rate) in games officiated by Pat Adams.