Kentucky Basketball: 3 Concerns After Wildcats Home Loss to Kansas

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Jan 28, 2017; Lexington, KY, USA; Kansas Jayhawks guard Lagerald Vick (2) and Kentucky Wildcats guard Malik Monk (5) during the game in the second half at Rupp Arena. Kansas defeated Kentucky 79-73. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports /

The No. 4 Kentucky basketball team dropped a tough game to the No. 2 Kansas Jayhawks, and it leaves fans with a number of concerns.

In a game they probably had to win to secure a number one seed in the NCAA tournament, the fourth-ranked Kentucky Wildcats fell short tonight at home. UK was thoroughly outplayed over the last twenty-five minutes and fell 79-73 to the second-ranked Kansas Jayhawks.

This was a highly anticipated matchup between the two winningest programs in college basketball history. Here is a look at some of reasons for the loss and a few observations about where the Cats go from here.

The first half was a huge lost opportunity

The homestanding Cats got off to a good start. Following a rousing introduction by Michael Buffer, Kentucky had an upper hand through the first fifteen minutes. Derek Willis came off the bench to score seven first half points. The senior from Mt. Washington hit scored four straight on a three-pointer and a free throw to give the Cats a 29-17 lead with 4:58 to go until halftime.

But then things started to go wrong.

Despite being in foul trouble and going 0-8 from behind the arc in the half, Kansas cut the lead to 32-27 by the end of the half. Perhaps because of the foul trouble, the Jayhawks switched to a zone defense and that move seemed to rattle the Cats.

Kentucky made some unforced errors and took too many bad shots in those last few minutes. Despite having the lead a Big Blue fan couldn’t help but think the margin should have been greater and be a little fearful the tide had turned.

Second Half Woes

Kansas picked up where they left off after halftime and quickly took a 35-32 lead. Willis and Isiah Briscoe answered with a pair of three pointers to put the Wildcats up 38-35. From that point, however, the Jayhawks gradually but inexorably took control. After being outrebounded by Kentucky 21-15 in the first half, KU won the battle of boards 19-14 in the second.

Kansas found their range from behind the arc in the second half, going 5-11 . More importantly, the visitors shot a 59% clip from the field in the second half, going 20-34. That was after shooting 40% from the field in the first half. Down the stretch the Jayhawks simply made more winning plays than the Wildcats and took a big win home to Lawrence.

The Cats, on the other hand….

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