Denzel Aberdeen had 26 points and hit four 3-pointers against Louisville. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Not only did Louisville get its first win over Kentucky in five years Tuesday night, but the Cardinals also made it painfully clear that UK is not quite the defensive juggernaut coach Mark Pope hoped it would be.
Pope valued defense with his transfer portal additions after Kentucky too often had to depend on outscoring teams to win last season. However, Louisville scored 53 points in the first half and won 96-88 despite missing seven straight free throws late in the game that could have widened the margin.
ESPN studio analyst Seth Greenberg noted at halftime that transfers Denzel Aberdeen of Florida and Mo Dioubate of Alabama were supposed to be “dogs” much like returning UK player Otega Oweh.
“They have not shown that,” Greenberg said. “They have to get back to the new identity (defense) and not the identity of last year with offense.”
Jay Bilas, ESPN’s court-side analyst, was also surprised by what he saw.
“I think the physicality of Louisville knocked Kentucky back in the first half,” Bilas said. “Louisville has been the aggressor in every facet of this first half. This has been a clinic by Louisville in the first half.”
Kentucky missed 12 of 13 shots in one first-half stretch and gave up a 13-0 Louisville run. After Kentucky rallied to get back in the game 53-46 at halftime, Louisville exploded again in the first 7 1/2 minutes of the second half to take a 78-58 lead with 12:24 before Kentucky stormed back.
“You were thinking it was over when they got the lead to 20, but then Kentucky tightened the screws (defensively) and worked its way back into the game. They just played harder. They challenged shots and made it a little more difficult on Louisville,” UK Radio Network analyst Jack Givens said. “It was obvious to me that when Kentucky picked it up in the energy department, just the want-to department, that made the biggest difference in the Cats.”
Kentucky got a needed lift when Tulane transfer Kam Williams made his first 3-pointer of the season and then dunked an offensive rebound during a surge that eventually cut the lead to 88-84 with 4 minutes, 2 seconds left after a deep three by Collin Chandler. A steal by point guard Jaland Lowe got the ball back for UK, and Lowe, UK’s best foul shooter this season, got fouled with 3:16 left. However, he missed the front end of the bonus.
“You have your best free-throw shooter on the line and a chance to cut the lead to two. Make that, and who knows what happens,” Givens said. “You don’t, and they go score, and it is a whole different game.”
Louisville’s sensational freshman Mikel Brown converted a three-point play to put the lead at 91-84 with 2:52 left. Kentucky never got closer than five points again. Brown finished with 29 points on 8-for-16 shooting from the field and 10-for-11 at the foul line.
“Brown is really an impressive player. I loved what I saw from him and maybe the most impressive thing was how college he remained. He did not get rattled and just stayed with his stuff,” Bilas said.
Kentucky got 26 points from Aberdeen, who was 10-for-20 from the field and 4-for-10 from 3. He also had seven rebounds and three assists in 31 minutes. He played with no fear and even when he badly missed — and he had three 3-point tries that did not draw iron — he never backed down.
“Denzel has played his whole career like that. At Florida, he was playing with really good guards, and when he came in, the play of the Gators did not drop off,” Givens said. “I am not surprised (at what he did). Watching practice, he plays hard just like he did tonight. He missed two shots late and both were right on the money.”
What bothered Givens was that UK made 14 turnovers that led to 19 Louisville points and forced only six turnovers that led to 10 points for the Cats. Louisville also got to the foul line 31 times compared to 16 for Kentucky.
“Being more physical than Kentucky, especially in the paint, was a big deal for me,” Givens said. “You have to do better forcing turnovers and the free throws tell me that Louisville was way more aggressive.”
24 Responses
Good analysis.
One game doesn't define the season, learn from it and go on. I said there will be bumps along the ride during the season before the season started. The main thing is get better for March and I think this team will do that.
Well Cats79, I said before that the Cats would be lucky to be .500 in pre-conference without Quaintence. I'm thinking 7-6 by Jan. 1. Garrison has not improved. He looks to have digressed to me. Morena seems to have a 12 inch vertical jump. Dunk or lay-up is all they got. They had 11 rebounds combined. Soft. Big Oscar would have had 11 before half-time. It would be nice to have him "clogging up" the middle right now. Lowe is not as advertised. He has brought his turnover rate with him from Pittsburgh. God help us if the Cats take 35 three's a game. Hopefully Quaintence saves the season before it's too late.
We need to stop talking about winning national title No. 9, and focus more on just winning the next game and then the next game after that. Nobody should be guaranteed anything but what they earned from the last game. My starting 5 for Friday's game would be Aberdeen, Chandler, Williiams, Jelavic, and Moreno. I would let them play until they got tired or got in foul trouble. Playing time should be based on performance, not reputation. Lowe, Oweh, Dioubate, and Garrison are the ones who need a checkup from the neck up. They can prove me wrong by playing better the next time they get a chance to play against a team like Michigan State.
The new assignment should be: Thou shalt not lose to Louisville and Arkansas in the same season or in Rupp Arena. We don't play Arkansas again until January 31 and it is in Fayetteville. We have 2+ months to figure it out; we have already lost to Louisville. Oh, start playing Quaintance, if even for limited minutes. Hopefully Noah paid attention to this game. When he comes back on the floor he needs to be mean and not be afraid to take the shot.
I agree I get so tired of hearing about #9. I think it's a distraction. Just win and focus on winning. If you win you can put yourself in a position to play in the championship. This was a 22 million dollar roster against a 16 million dollar roster. Louisville was the aggressor and made us play there game until there was 5 minutes to play in the game.
Your starting 5 is perfect. Lowe and Oweh are both out of control. If they play together we will have 5 turnovers every 5 minutes. You can't have 2 out of control guards playing together.
Very disappointing defensive effort. Lots to work on – including playing as a team.
Sure hope Stoops’ guys can manage a win later this month vs UL. Otherwise, their fans will be unbearable.
Big Blue Koolaid pretty tasty going down – not so much puking it back up !
Just some Stats
3 pt FG:
4-6 67% Chandler
1-6 16% Oweh
A:TO
3:5 Oweh
14:14 UK
20:6 UL
Chandler has caught up with Oweh. By the end of the year I think he will be better than Oweh. You can argue he's as good if not better now. Chandler will be a all American next year and possibly all SEC this year. His stock is rising so this could be his last year. I think he will stay another year.
I think he stays another year, Terry. I agree wh will pass Oweh if he hasn’t already. He is destined to be a complete game package and not just scoring (like Oweh) Oweh can’t hit the 3 consistently and he does not want to pass the ball.
Not sure this was a upset at all. UL really seemed to control the game start to finish. Had they not bombed on last flurry of FT's would have hit easy Hundy on us. We were told we had the better defense prior to game…NOT. We really had no interior offense or defense whole game. Would someone on the team or coaching staff tell Garrison he would be welcomed back to the team. For him to log 23 mins and only 3 pts is a disgrace. He pulled too many disappearing acts last year. Chandler played decent the 2nd half but almost nothing first half. I had felt that Chandler/Garrison play would be key. It did not help that Jelavic did not play most of 2nd half. Pope really messed up not being able to recruit Nate Ament. He would have balanced out Brown and probably led us to the W.
Not an upset. UL was favored by 3 to 5 points. UK is not a national title contender. This team will be lucky to reach the Sweet 16. Double-digit losses are on tap once again.
Very disappointing, but not surprising given this team's performances against Georgetown and Nicholls.
Correct on all points! There will be more disappointments coming with play/coaching exhibited to date.
It's so early in the season and I'm surprise by your comments. There so much season left to get better that's why they play 30 games to get there.
Hey Larry- Kentucky Wildcats' Otega Oweh named to prestigious All-America First Team list. NOT ! Whoever thinks Oweh is one of the best five players in College basketball I have beach front property to sell down in the holler where I live! Players that get that honor show up every night and dominate games! Maybe He will get a Big Participation Trophy! The Cards were right naming this team “The Pussy Kitties” and they will get new Kitty litter boxes since the Cards Crapped all over them last night!
In a perfect world a team would have two seven foot maulers and three guys that shoot 40% or better beyond the arc – oh yea that was the AD and Willy team.
First off I want to say this. By the end of this season Chandler will be the best player on this team. He has already caught Oweh. Oweh is a little better defensively but Chandler is the better offensive player. Aberdeen and Chandler were the only two players playing hard. Louisville was the aggressor and made us play there game until 5 minutes to play. We will be much better next year. Oweh needs to focus on not turning the ball over and playing very lazy. No way is he POTY worthy in the SEC or NCAA. He can't hit a 3. He needs to stop shooting them. I think Kam Williams would have done more. Let me also say Lowe is out of control. Every time he touches the ball along with BG I hold my breath. What was he thinking on that put back attempt that was the laziest play ive ever seen and selfish we had 3 guys wide open for a 3. He's on the ground more than he is running around. I see a injury very soon to him. He acted hurt 4 different times against Louisville. Terrible effort. We were just throwing shots up. Louisville was getting wide open looks. 22 million vs 16 million. Say what you want Kelsey out coached Pope. In every facet. Brown was the best player on the court. He's a true freshman. Sloppy and piss poor performance. Little Baron called it when we play together we're a good team. When we play hero ball Its over we suck.
I'm not going to lie this game put me back in football mode. I'm more excited about Tennessee tech than I was about this Louisville game. It's to early in the year to be playing against a rival.
Kelsey had Louisville ready, why weren't we?
This game took the heat off of Coach Stoops and placed it squarely on Coach Pope.
Lowe plays like he is still at Pittsburgh. Some habits are had to unlearn. Dioubate needs to get back to his strengths…3 point shooting is not one of them. Garrison needs to get serious about his game. Quaintance will be playing soon and Garrison might find he is the last big off the bench. Oweh is struggling living up to all of the pre-season hype. He is forcing too many drives when the lane is not open. All of these guys are in a funk. Aberdeen, Chandler, Moreno, and now Williams are upping their game. Jelavic deserves more PT as well. Pope needs to put the best 5 guys on the floor as starters, not the ones he imagined would be starters back in September.
We will be a different team when we get JQ in the lineup. Clearly BG hasn't improved to much. I would start Moreno over him. With Garrison Lowe and Oweh there are bound to be a bunch of turnovers. I would go with Aberdeen/Chandler/Williams/Jelavic/Moreno. Johnson needs to let the game come to him instead of forcing shots as well. He's talented he just thinks about scoring to much. Pass the ball.
I don't think it is totally clear, even at this early point in the season, who is really running the team. I do think we have the talent but am not sure of the coaching in Prime Time games which we witnessed more than we thought last year. It was obvious that Pope and staff had no answer for what UL was doing because they did it all night. Pope needs to hold these players to a higher level of accountability. Garrison needs to take his level of play to a higher level if he wants to remove Slacker moniker
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