Nervous energy doomed Kentucky from the opening tip

Coming into Thursday night, not a single player on Kentucky’s roster had won an NCAA Tournament game. As the clock tilts over to Friday morning, that still remains the case.

The two-seeded Wildcats fell to the 15-seeded Saint Peter’s Peacocks in overtime by a final score of 85-79 in what will go down as one of the worst losses in program history. Kentucky was outcoached, outplayed, and out-energized for most of the game, which was visible through both the on-court play and facial expressions.

If it felt like everyone outside of Oscar Tshiebwe was shell-shocked by the environment of playing in the NCAA Tournament, that’s because they were.

“It was the whole game. It wasn’t just then,” Kentucky head coach John Calipari said postgame if nerves played a factor in the outcome. “I took guys out because they wouldn’t shoot the ball. I did that about three times. If you don’t shoot it, I’m taking you out. They wouldn’t shoot; I had to take them out. I had to do that three times. I said, I don’t care if you make it, understand that Oscar (Tshiebwe) is under the basket and if you miss it, he’ll get it. But if you drive into nine guys, you throw something where he’s got four guys on him, it’s hard.”

“I was hoping I could get them by it to get on to the next game, to get their feet underneath them. Obviously, I didn’t do a very good job with it.”

John Calipari discusses Kentucky’s nerves at the end of the game against Saint Peter’s. pic.twitter.com/vqvjEAEJZP

— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) March 18, 2022

Veteran guards Davion Mintz and Kellan Grady were the only two Wildcats with previous postseason experience coming into Thursday’s opener of the 2022 NCAA Tournament, clocking just 83 minutes across three losses. But neither had been to the Big Dance since 2018 — now four years ago. This was essentially a brand new experience for them, as well, just as it was for every other available player on the roster.

Fortunately, National Player of the Year frontrunner Oscar Tshiebwe acted as if he’s already played in multiple Final Fours, unleashing 30 points and 16 rebounds as Kentucky’s only true source of offense. He was unstoppable from the opening tip to the final buzzer, but a team effort was necessary to beat Saint Peter’s, and he received none of it.

Calipari was hoping to simply pull this one out no matter how it happened. Just getting his players in that environment with that kind of pressure could pay off in the next round as the nerves ideally fade further away with every win. But Kentucky couldn’t even get that far. Despite leading by six with a little over four minutes to go, the ‘Cats did exactly what the team has done multiple times over the last few weeks — play not to lose. As the tempo slowed down against Saint Peter’s, so did Kentucky’s momentum and chance at moving on.

Plenty of credit is due to the Peacocks’ efforts, but just as much can be said of Kentucky’s confusing lack of confidence and positive energy.

“But again, this was probably something they never felt in their lives,” Calipari added. “And that’s why I wish I had some answers with three minutes to go to help them through it to get by the first one. But I tell you what, we missed shots, and Saint Peter’s made shots. They made threes. They made layups; we missed. They made free throws; we missed. It’s one of those games that I was hoping I could get it by them to get them on to the next game to get their feet underneath them, and obviously I didn’t do a very good job with it.”

Calipari admitting that he wishes he “had some answers” down the stretch sums up the last few weeks. He had the timeouts to do so, which could have potentially settled his team. But he spoke like a man who had exhausted his options. As he mentioned earlier, Calipari benched Grady multiple times throughout the game for failing to take open shots — an untimely trend over recent games for a once automatic sniper.

If the players can’t shake off nervous energy at this point in the season, it’s just not going to happen.

But at the same time, it’s on the coach to build that confidence up at the right time. Unfortunately, this Kentucky team peaked a few weeks too early and never once found that same imposing rhythm that dropped Kansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina by a combined 75 points in the middle of the season.

“We were in every timeout trying to encourage. You’re going to be fine; we’ve just got to make a play,” Calipari said. “You know, at one point with five minutes to go, one of the guys got on a guy and said, ‘Stop, there’s five minutes, just be positive. Just leave it alone. Just be positive.’ And so we were trying to help them get through it. Obviously didn’t do the kind of job we needed to.”