Matt Jones Breaks Down Embarrassing Kentucky Loss to Gonzaga

Kentucky once again dropped the ball at home. The Wildcats lost 89-85 to Gonzaga. It’s only the second time in the storied history of Kentucky basketball that the team has lost three straight games at home, and the first since Rupp Arena opened in 1976.

“They once again got embarrassed, and I think got embarrassed in the most damning way yet on Calipari,” Matt Jones said on the KSR Postgame Show. “That was almost coaching malpractice out there to watch the way it played out. Mark Few completely decimated this Kentucky team.”

He continued: “This is now the seventh loss of the season on a team that has an unbelievable amount of talent. They’ve lost seven and they still have their two hardest road games, two losable road games, and a game against the first-place team in the SEC at home, yet to come.”

The creator of KSR broke down everything that went wrong Saturday afternoon and took a look at the big-picture problems this program is facing.

Listen to the entire KSR Postgame Show on Apple Podcasts.

First Half Subs

John Calipari said on his call-in show earlier this week that he was going to play a bunch of guys in the first half. He threw everything against the wall, and nothing really seemed to stick. Nine different Wildcats logged minutes as Kentucky fell behind early, clawed their way back, then let a close game turn into a 10-point deficit at intermission.

“I have no idea how John Calipari was coaching the team in the first half…. He probably in the first ten minutes played nine, ten different lineups. The shuffling back and forth of guys was unbelievable, including some lineups that literally have no chance of scoring. At one point I think he had Dillingham, Wagner, Burks, Thiero, and Ugo. That’s just not a lineup that’s going to score points. You had sitting on your bench, I counted, Reeves and Sheppard played a combined of 19 minutes in the first half out of 40. You can’t do that,” said Jones.

It gets worse. Rob Dillingham averaged 25 points per game over the last three games. He only played four minutes in the second half.

“You could argue Reeves, Dillingham, and Sheppard are maybe three of the best shooters we’ve ever had. I would argue they’re the best threesome of shooting we’ve had on one team that Kentucky’s ever had. I don’t think they’ve ever had three guys on the same team that can shoot threes better. Wanna know how many minutes they played together tonight? A minute and a half.”

Gonzaga Dominates Kentucky Down the Stretch

Kentucky stormed back and led by as many as six points. Then Gonzaga, who is not a lock to enter the NCAA Tournament, attacked the heart of Kentucky’s porous defense. The Wildcats had only four total stops in the final 12:30.

“The last 10 minutes were an embarrassment. Mark Few did the same thing every single time down the court and we had no answer,” said Jones.

“If Ugo was in, they’d put him in a pick-and-roll. He could not guard it. Big Z is in, pick-and-roll, can’t guard it. Bradshaw’s in, seal him down low, score over him. We never adjusted. Forget about zone, just nothing else. No thought about going small? Nothing. Let’s just let ’em do it over and over and over, and they did.”

Kentucky still had a chance to tie the game or win in the final minute. Trailing by two points, John Calipari drew up a lob to Adou Thiero. Yes, that was the play-call.

“I have no idea what that play was. This is probably the worst Kentucky team throwing lobs of the Cal era… They’ve been terrible and you run a lob? A lob to Thiero. Look, Adou played great, I’m not down Thiero. But you have on your team, an All-American, a top seven pick, and a dude who has 21 points in the second half, and the first option is a lob, which we’re not even good at, to a guy who’s like our fifth or sixth best offensive option. How is that a play?”

Kentucky Must Win in March

“When the game was over, Calipari said, ‘Blame me, don’t blame the players. Put it on me, don’t put it on the players.’ I give him credit for saying that. He’s right, but it is on him. This year’s on him. This team should be good.”

Kentucky has seven losses with its toughest games still to come. Can John Calipari get them back on track? The Big Blue Nation is starving for success and the path to get there just got significantly more difficult.

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