The magic runs out as poor shooting dooms the Kentucky Wildcats in 56-55 loss to UConn Huskies in Final FOur

Ind the end, the only thing that could defeat the Kentucky Wildcat’s Final Four run … was the Kentucky Wildcats.  For the second straight season, Kentucky suffered through a horrendous shooting performance that ended their season, this time to the UConn Huskies 56-55.

Both teams struggled in the early going, and both struggled with things they had been doing successfully throughout the tournament. Kentucky started out could and could not get into a rhythm offensively. Kentucky seemed to be forcing shots offensively and started taking some bad choices on their outside shots. The usually sure handed Huskies did not take good care of the ball and had several early turnovers. Neither team could capitalize on the other’s shortcomings and Kentucky had a 12-11 lead at the 10:47 mark.

Up until now, Kentucky had held Kemba Walker to just three points, but then Walker started to heat up, draining a three and then getting a three pointer of the “and one variety”. Cause for concern went up across the Bluegrass as UK led 19-12 at the 8:01 mark and UK was shooting just 25% from the floor and 1-8 from three point range. Brandon Knight, who was scoreless up until now got a quick 5 points on two straight possessions as UK closed the gap.

Right about this time, Josh Harrellson picked up his second foul forcing him to the bench and UConn started to dominate inside and racking up the offensive rebounds. The UConn defense kept Kentucky from ever getting in a rhythm and Kentucky started to turn the ball over and had a couple of very ill advised shots. Kemba Walker found Jeremy Lamb for a layup as UConn went up 29-19 with 3:23 left in the first half.

The way the first half went, you have to feel Kentucky dodged a bullet going in just 10 at the half 31-21. Kentucky really came unraveled and to be honest, played a lot like they did in the first game in Hawaii. They did not play at a team and forced up way too many shots and the statline showed. Kentucky shot 28.1% from the floor, 16.7% on treys, and 1-5 from the line. About the only that that was on Kentucky’s side was the fact they had just 5 fouls in the half and only Harrellson had two fouls. Eloy Vargas helped pick up the slack with 5 rebounds.

As they did against West Virginia, Kentucky came out blazing in the second half, getting threes from Knight and Miller and a layup by Harrellson to cut the lead to 31-29 with about 17:00 of gametime to go. Doron Lamb drained back to back threes to give UK their first lead in a long time at 35-33.

The Huskies clawed back to a three point lead, but Lamb tied the game with another trey at 42. The Huskies went on a mini-run and took a 46-42 lead, but Kentucky charged back to tie it. But for every rum Kentucky had, UConn had an answer. Fatigue started to set it on Kentucky and the Huskies took a 52-48 lead with 4:13 remaining. During this stretch of play, both teams had gone long periods of time without forcing the TV timeouts. Fatigue showed on both teams now as Kentucky was missing all their shots short and UConn could not convert either. UConn called a timeout with the score still 52-48 to try to get some leverage for the last 2:43.

Kentucky allowed Napier to drive and get a layup with two Wildcats flailing at the ball but the score gave UConn a seemingly insurmountable 54-48 lead with 2:09 left. If Kentucky was going to extend their season, they would have to play flawless ball down the stretch and force some turnovers as UConn is a very good FT shooting team.

The Huskies had the ball up six after a Jones FT miss but Jones got a key steal and DeAndre Liggins drained a three for his first points of the game to pull UK to within 54-51 with 1:41 left. Kentucky got the ball back but Knight missed a trey but Josh Harrellson grabbed the rebound, extending the possession. DeAndre Liggins made a FT to narrow the gap and Kentucky forced a UConn turnover with :16 remaining and Kentucky had a chance to win the game. The Huskies played great defense and DeAndre Liggins forced a off balance three pointer which was off the mark and Kentucky fouled UConn on the rebound with 2.0 remaining. Shabazz Napier drilled both free throws which put the game out of reach. Adding insult to injury, Knight drilled the last second trey, but the comeback fell one point short and UConn advanced to the finals with a 56-55 victory.

Truth be told, the unthinkable happened. Kentucky had a horrible shooting night shooting 33.9% from the floor, 33.3% on 3-pointers and inexcusably, 33.3% from the FT line. To be honest, I did not think anyone could cool this Wildcat offense down, but UConn did a great job of defense and forced Kentucky into bad shots. Brandon Knight led the way with 17 points, but that was on 6-23 shooting and 3-11 from beyond the arc. Doron Lamb had the hot hand in the second half and finished with 13, while Terrence Jones had 11 points and 17 boards. The veteran leadership of Harrellson, Miller, and Liggins let Kentucky down, accounting for just 14 points.

I have to admit, being bounced because of a second straight horrid shooting performance leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but it’s not a lingering one because of the run and the heart this team had. A Final Four was considered an impossibility as late as February, but this was a team that did the Commonwealth proud. It stings for now, but we are a lot closer to the top of the mountain than we were two years ago.

For complete game stats, go here.

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