Matt Jones Breaks Down Another One-and-Done SEC Tournament

Well, well, well, here we are again. A week of hype resulted in disappointment for Kentucky basketball fans at the SEC Tournament in Nashville. The trend is gutting the Big Blue Nation.

“I hate how things have gone in this tournament. This was a tournament that Kentucky has owned really since it restarted for many, many years,” Matt Jones said on the KSR Postgame Show.

“During Calipari’s first (nine) years, he was 23-3 in the SEC Tournament and in the last four years we’ve won one game. We’re 13th out of 14 teams in the SEC in record in the SEC Tournament over the last four years. That’s awful. That’s absolutely awful, and when you consider what this tournament means for UK fans, it’s even worse.”

The BBN cannot be blamed for a lack of effort. Kentucky fans flocked to Bridgestone Arena, giving Cal’s Cats a home away from home.

“There are people who come to these games that don’t get to go to any other games and the atmosphere is electric. During that run in the first half, I thought to myself, ‘This is as loud as I can remember this place being.’ It was electric as Kentucky was making their run in the first half,” said Jones.

“So I hate for these people that this is now for years in a row, where we’ve gone home very early: only one semifinal over the last four years, only one victory in the last four years. I hate it. This place was rolling.”

Listen to Matt Jones and Ryan Lemond on the KSR Postgame Show.

Three Things That Stood Out in the Kentucky Loss

We all know Kentucky is not a great defensive team. That’s been evident for most of the season, but near the end, the Cats were trending in the right direction. They weren’t the “SuffoCats” by any stretch of the imagination, but things were moving in the right direction. Friday night that progress was nonexistent.

“It feels like all I remember is (Texas A&M) making shots. In the first half, hit a ton of threes. Then in the second half, they just got to the rim whenever they wanted, whenever they wanted. Our guards just couldn’t guard them. That’s the bottom line. We could not stop the ball and everything on defense starts with stopping the ball and we could not stop the ball,” said Jones.

Three things stood out to KSR’s Fearless Leader. It all starts with a poor start.

“One, It’s probably too late and it is what it is, start your best players. Start your best players. You’re down 8-1, never came back. Why do we do that?”

The starting lineup conversation has been around all year. What makes it a lasting talking point is that lineup combination only starts the game. They rarely take the floor together later in the game.

“Number two, we just aren’t good with physicality. When teams are physical with us, we are not good,” said Jones.

“Third, I think things that we are good at and have been great at this year, they kinda got away from., They didn’t share the ball, there was a lot of kind of running up, throwing stuff up on the glass, and especially unfortunately by Rob (Dillingham), and I can’t crush Rob for it because I was surprised at how much our players didn’t seem to want to shoot in the second half.”

More Kentucky News and Views on the KSR YouTube Channel

Kentucky Sports Radio has expanded its coverage of the Wildcats in the most ridiculous manner possible on our YouTube Channel. Here you will be able to find interviews with coaches and players, as well as commentary from the KSR crew. From Rapid Reactions following big events to our lengthy lineup of live shows, subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel to stay up to date on everything happening around the Big Blue Nation.