To be honest, the Kentucky Wildcat – Indiana Hoosier rivalry had not been much of one lately as Kentucky had won the last three games easily and 16 of the last 20. But if you believe the hype, this was a different Indiana team and this game was going to be in the raucous Assembly Hall. Kentucky had the talent and the athleticism to win the game but also the history of a team that did not play well on the road all season last year. In the end, the perfect storm of poor road play, missed free throws and bad mental decisions were too much for Kentucky to battle. Indiana was a worthy opponent and shocked the Wildcats 73-72 capping off a wild weekend in which number one and number two lost on the road.
John Calipari had the interesting move to play Michael Kidd-Gilchrist on Jordan Hulls and the move paid dividends early. Cody Zeller was no answer for Anthony Davis either as Indiana was the team that came out rattled. IU turned the ball on six of their first 12 possessions but Kentucky could not take advantage of it due to poor shot selection. Even when Kentucky got the easy shots, they missed four layups early. The game had the intensity of some classic UK/IU games and the score was knotted at 10 at the 12:00 mark. The crowd heating up when Indiana took a 12-10 lead, but Michael Kidd-Gilchrist answered with six straight points for the Wildcats. Kentucky started to push the tempo and took a 20-14 lead .
You have to give Indiana credit as they went on a 7-0 run as Kentucky started to get into foul trouble. Doron Lamb and Anthony Davis went to the bench with two fouls and Indiana battled every possession defensively. Marquis Teague was having a rough game offensively and missed a few layups in the first half and started to play out of control. With Indiana up 30-22 and seemingly having Kentucky on the ropes, Calipari made a risky move and benched Teague and reinserted Lamb with two fouls.
It paid off. After a Eloy Vargas putback, Lamb scored on a layup and then drilled a three. Kentucky weathered the storm and were able to go in at the half down just 30-29. In a way, both teams should have been up 10 points. Indiana was able to be up one despite shooting just 37.5% and having 11 turnovers. Kentucky had 12 turnovers and had Davis and Lamb on the bench for a long period of the game. It was an especially rough half half for Terrence Jones who had 0 rebounds and 5 turnovers.
After Jones went coast to coast after a steal, UK was up 35-34 in the second half, but it was getting ready to go wrong quickly. Jone’s sixth TO of the game led to a wide open trey by Watford and a 38-35 IU advantage. Anthony Davis picked up his third foul at the 17:35 mark and Calipari pulled Jones from the game, resulting in a Kyle Wiltjer/Eloy Davis front court. The treys started dropping for the Hoosiers and a Sheehey trey put Kentucky on the ropes again at 45-35. A wide open trey by Hulls kept the margin at 48-38.
Then the much maligned Marquis Teague scored on a layup and a trey of the “and one” variety to pull UK to within 5 at 48-43. Indiana continued to respond to Kentucky’s jabs and right when you think Kentucky is going to make a run, Anthony Davis makes a rare freshman mistake. Davis fouled a wide open Verdell Jones III on a three point attempt, Jones sat with his 4th foul, Jones drained all three FT’s and IU was up 56-47 and Kentucky was on the verge of getting blown out.
Despite the fact that Indiana was hitting seven three pointers in a row, they could not shake Kentucky. Darius Miller, Doron Lamb, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist were the only three Wildcats that showed to play and they were keeping UK in the game. UK will still down just 66-59 with 6:28 remaining. Then we saw some mystifying basketball.
Despite Anthony Davis being on the court with four fouls and Cody Zeller playing good ball, Indiana stopped looking for him inside. Marquis Teague and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist helped Kentucky claw back into the game and UK was within one at 66-65. A Watford drive put the Hoosiers back up 68-65, but somehow Kentucky was still in a game they had no business being in with 3:00 left.
While Terrence Jones at on the bench, Marquis Teague was redeeming himself. He pulled Kentucky to within 68-67 and a Darius Miller dunk gave Kentucky their first lead since 35-34. Indiana grabbed a 70-69 lead but Teague put Kentucky up 71-70 with another drive to the basket. After a horrid first half, Teague was 6-6 in the second half from the field. And Kentucky had victory in their grasp.
But then Kentucky’s old nemesis, free throw shooting, reared its ugly head. Anthony Davis bricked the front end of a one and one and after a defensive stand, Kentucky got the ball back. Doron Lamb bricked the first free throw and hit the second, giving UK a 72-70 lead with 5.6 seconds left. Indiana looked like they were going to drive for a tying two but Watford hit a wide open, uncontested trey to beat the buzzer and give the Hoosiers an improbable 73-72 upset victory.
Kudos go to the Hoosiers, but this was a game that Kentucky gave away. The defensive effort was virtually non-existent and Terrence Jone’s performance was a mystery. Jones was a non factor for most of the game and finished with four points, one rebound, and six assists. To be honest, I really hope everything is Ok with him personally because his mind and heart definitely were not in Bloomington.
Kentucky played horrible defense and for the second straight game, allowed a team to torch them, virtually uncontested, from long range. Kentucky allowed Indiana to totally take them out of their game, but behind Teague and Miller in the second half were in a position to win the game. You can blame the poor FT shooting for Kentucky’s down fall, but the inexcusable fact is that Kentucky had a foul to give at the end and made no attempt to foul and let Indiana score with ease. I’m not sure what the mental mindset was on the floor or in the huddle, but the ending of this game was eerily similar to Memphis’s loss in the NCAA Finals to Kansas.
And I am sure that will be on John Calipari’s mind this week.