Vicky Graff Photo
Kentucky faced arguably their hardest test of the season on Saturday at Texas A&M. The No. 6 Wildcats were on the wrong side of an overtime thriller and suffered their third loss of the season, 97-92.
Kentucky was walking into a hostile environment, playing a very tough Aggies team desperate for a win after starting 0-2 in conference play. Both teams traded blows back and forth throughout all of regulation, with big shot after big shot swinging momentum back and forth all the way down to the wire.
As the clock in the second half was close to running out, A&M’s Tyrece Radford stole the ball from Kentucky’s D.J. Wagner with less than eight seconds left. After not making a free throw attempt all game, Radford sank both attempts to snatch any hope away from Kentucky fans.
When it looked like Kentucky had lost the game, Kentucky fan-favorite Reed Sheppard came up with one of the team’s rare offensive rebounds and was fouled with less than one second remaining.
Under an immense amount of pressure, the star freshman hit both free throws to send the game to overtime.
But unfortunately for the Wildcats, overtime is when their offense ran out of gas as A&M out-scored Kentucky 8-3 in the period to win the game. In fact, Kentucky’s only points came with less than :40 to go, as Sheppard went 2-3 from the free throw line and Tre Mitchell went 1-2.
Not only did A&M out-score Kentucky in overtime, but they also out-rebounded the Wildcats 9-4 in the extra period. The Aggies out-rebounded Kentucky 54-46 overall and 25-17 on the offensive glass.
Defense was also a glaring issue, as A&M had averaged just 54 points in their first two games of Southeastern Conference play. The Aggies made several big time shots but saw a season-best day from Radford (28 points) and the second-best game of the year from Wade Taylor IV (31 points).
Kentucky did have offensive contributors of their own from Antonio Reeves (22 points), Wagner (18 points), Rob Dillingham (15 points) and Sheppard (13 points), but that wasn’t good enough when Radford & Taylor combined for 59 points alone.
It’s indisputable that Kentucky is having a historic season offensively, but championship teams hang banners because they can also flip the switch defensively and they aren’t abused in the rebounding category.
In a nutshell, it’s clear this Kentucky team isn’t perfect. However, the good news for both head coach John Calipari and the Big Blue Nation is there aren’t many “perfect” teams this season – if any at all. So who knows what March will hold?
Before we get there, though, Kentucky has over half of their schedule remaining and that resumes on Wednesday night when the Wildcats host Mississippi State at Rupp Arena.
The Bulldogs are fresh off a victory over Tennessee earlier this week and face Alabama later this evening. Tip-off for Wednesday’s game is scheduled for 7 PM ET with coverage on ESPN2.
2 Responses
Highly entertaining game. I kinda figured it would go OT. The poor free throw shooting by A&M should have produced a W for the Cats. And karma bites hard when "Dan Shulman" starts with his mock talk draft about Dillingham while A&M throws down a dunk. These guys are paid off to speak NBA. Hats off to Buzz. He deserves it. He’s had great teams at Va Tech & Marquette.
Kentucky’s problem all season long has been poor defense. This team’s adjusted defensive efficiency is the highest on record, and the data goes back to the 1997 season. No one can reasonably deny this fact.
People talk about how much better this team’s offense has been. It has been better than UK’s recent offensive results, but it is only Calipari’s 5th most efficient offense at UK. Unfortunately, those other offensive juggernauts have not occurred for so many years that many fans can only compare this team to offensive teams that were measurably less efficient.
Base on how this team has played its first 15 games (1/2 of the regular season) it is about a #16 to #18 type team, and it is just as likely that this team will fall in the first weekend as it is likely that this team will advance to the Sweet 16.
As for individual players, Reed Sheppard is the best player on this team. He does not start. He should be starting. The decision not to start him belongs to Calipari.
He isn’t just "one of the best freshmen" on this team, he is the best. He isn’t just the best freshman on this team, he is the best player on this team. His absence from the floor hurts this team.
I am not interested in the trite canned response that Reed’s OK with coming off the bench. When some idiot reporter pushes a microphone in his face and asks, “Reed, how do you feel about not being a starter?” What else is the kid going to say? I promise he not only wants to start, but he believes (knows) he should be starting. Yet, if he answers that question honestly, the discord he will get within the program from the coaches and teammates will be unbearable, so a player in this situation says, “I’m good with it.” And then adds some phony explanation why coming off the bench works for him. It is all BS. It is all Lies issued for team political reasons.
So, every time I ask, “Why isn’t Reed Sheppard starting” I don’t get any cogent response that addresses the real issue regarding Calipari’s fraudulent practices, which is the reason, the fraud’s defenders try to shut down the conversation by saying, “Reed’s OK with it”
If you believe Reed Sheppard is "OK with it" then I have some nice property in south Florida that I can sell you.