'Young inexperience' crushes Cats' chances in College Station

It was right there, on several occasions. A seven-point lead with 12 minutes to go, then a four-point lead with eight, tie ballgame at the four-minute mark, then tied up at the end of regulation. Kentucky never let go of the rope, responding with big shot after big shot down the stretch when Texas A&M was doing everything to win that game. Rob Dillingham nearly willed the team to overtime by himself, scoring 11 points in the final segment, followed by two dagger free throws with less than a second on the clock for free basketball.

Then the Cats don’t score a single bucket in the extra period, just three made free throws. Zero points until there were just 39 seconds left on the clock with the team down five. Legs were shot and decision-making was fried, balls just not bouncing in their favor the way they did in regulation.

The right team won the game

And look, it’s fair, because the right team probably won the game. A&M entered the day as the worst 3-point shooting team in college basketball among high-majors and hit 12 from deep on 32 tries. The Aggies ranked No. 1 in offensive rebounding and the Wildcats gave up 25 and 54 boards overall, losing that battle 54-46. Wade Taylor IV was one of two DI players with multiple 30-point games vs. ranked teams. He got 31 while hitting six threes as a 25% shooter from beyond the arc. You know?

“We would’ve stolen it, let’s be real,” John Calipari said after the loss. “We were making unbelievable plays (to stay in it).”

Overtime really told the story. The ball was tipped and Tyrece Radford — 28 points and nine rebounds from him, mind you — attacked the basket like a bat out of hell for a quick two in a matter of seconds. Kentucky responded with eight straight misses (three from deep), four fouls and a turnover. Nine rebounds for the Aggies, six for the Cats in that final segment. You could feel the desperation and will to win in A&M’s play, every play on both ends feeling like life or death. It was clear this was a team with preseason conference title aspirations that had lost two straight and five of its last eight, fighting to save its season.

The road team was looking to get the hell out of College Station alive.

“They played well. That’s as well as I’ve seen them play in all of the tapes I’ve watched. But I say that about after every game,” Calipari said. “… I’m stunned they didn’t bank any in, that happens to us. They were laser-focused. I told them, they’re a desperate team at home. They’ve got to have this game. Let’s make it hard for them to beat us. … But we fought. That’s what this team has been. They have a will to win, they’re not going to give up just because the other team is playing well.”

One thing after another

And the Cats did have their moments — again, the win was well within reach.

Antonio Reeves went bananas for 16 in the first half, but cooled off for a combined six points on 2-7 shooting in the second and overtime to finish with 22. DJ Wagner was solid in both halves with nine points apiece on 7-12 shooting, but missed all three attempts in the extra period. His toughest sequence came on a bobbled ball and turnover tied with ten seconds to go in regulation, Kentucky’s best chance to seal the deal. There for the taking, immediately after Dillingham had hit back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers to bring the team back from down five. The latter even responded with a missed three to close out regulation, then three more misses in overtime. Tre Mitchell added eight points, 13 rebounds and six assists in 44 minutes, but shot just 3-13 overall and 1-6 from three with three untimely turnovers.

Just go down the list, it was something at every stop along the way. Every chance Kentucky had to build momentum, take the game over and put things away, the ground would shake ever so slightly. The championship-level resolve this group has shown at various points just never broke through in College Station. Close, but no cigar.

“Our young inexperience showed through. Freshman shots, like, ‘I’m just shooting this.’ It was like, why did you do that? What? We took about four of those,” Calipari said. “Why did you shoot that one? … It had a one in ten chance of going in, we’re trying to win the game. … That’s what young guys do. At the end, there were things I should have been doing. … We threw the ball away for turnovers for layups. Like, what? What just happened to this? Where did we get to where we’re not working to get free? That’s what happens to young teams, stuff like that happens.”

What about the defense?

And let’s talk defense. Kentucky gave up 97 points to a team that entered the matchup tied with Louisville at No. 216 overall in scoring offense at 73.2 points per game. Kentucky has now given up at least 80 points in a game seven times on the year. Is there a quick fix for it? Calipari went with wall sits and lane slides in hopes of getting things right earlier in the season — the old-school tactics.

Where do you go from here?

“People talking about defense,” he said. “… We were in the top-50 defensively, it ain’t like we’re that bad. … They ran downhill, they were physical, they were grad students, they were older, they got into the body. We made some errors, but there are things we’re working on that we’ll get better.”

This is a league full of old, physical teams that will play with the same desperation Texas A&M showed in College Station. It was a preview of what’s to come in a conference currently projected to earn eight at-large bids in the NCAA Tournament. There will be a whole bunch of A&Ms in the Big Dance fighting for their lives in do-or-die games. Kentucky passed the test last weekend in Gainesville, but didn’t this time around in College Station. With a chance to be the heartbreakers, it became the heartbroken.

Fortunately for the Cats, there are still two months’ worth of tests to get things figured out.