2012-13 Kentucky Wildcats Basketball Season Review: Save Our Season

March 2, 2013; Fayetteville, AR, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Ryan Harrow (12) drives around Arkansas Razorbacks guard Fred Gulley III (12) during a game at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas defeated Kentucky 73-60. Mandatory Credit: Beth Hall-USA TODAY Sports

And the wheels come off

With three games left in the season, Kentucky was back in the NCAA Tournament discussion.  All Kentucky had to do was handle Arkansas and Georgia on the road and they more than likely were in the NCAA Tournament.  A win over Florida was preferred of course, but was not considered a “must” for UK to have.  And the way UK had played lately, it was a realistic goal.  Arkansas was a very tough team at home, having just lost once there, but Kentucky had the edge in talent and should be able to handle the Razorbacks.

Not so fast.

Kyle Wiltjer and the WIldcats started out quick, jumping to an 11-4 lead as Wiltjer had five early points.  Turnovers, poor shot selection, and fouls mounted as Arkansas rallied to take an 18-14 lead and then stretched it to 34-27 at the half.  Kentucky came out cold at the half and Arkansas blitzed Kentucky early and took a 45-29 lead before UK made their first FG of the half at the 16:34 mark.  And for all purposes, this game was over.  Arkansas stretched the lead to 19 on a few occasions and Kentucky never saw double digits again.  It was evident that the team had quit tonight and the 75-58 score was the proof.

The team numbers were embarrassing.  18 turnovers against only 5 assists.  They were outrebounded 43-36.  And the usual players were blamed for their effort.  Alex Poythress fouled out in 17 minutes and took just three shots.  Ryan Harrow went 3-9 and played just 22 minutes, yanked again for Jarrod Polson.  Even Julius Mays, who had been a constant positive, went 1-8.  And the frustrating “one step forward, two-step back” routine was polarizing the rabid UK fan base and it seemed to have no end in sight:

"Just when you think it has gained some hard-earned confidence, it comes up soft. Rephrase that: Just when it foolishly thinks it has done something, it learns it hasn’t really done anything at all. “They embrace success and this is what happens,” Calipari said with a knowing glance. “Especially when you think the other team is going to play like it’s an AAU game, that they’re not going to play hard. “‘(It’s like) why are you playing so hard? Why are you all over me?’ Because they want to win. Because they have a desire to win.” Arkansas played as hard Saturday as it always seems to play at home, where Mike Anderson’s club has now won 13 straight, where the Hogs are 16-1 this season and 33-4 since Anderson became head coach. But Kentucky’s 13-point loss wasn’t just about being outscored 30-2 off turnovers, or getting off 26 fewer shots, or allowing Arkansas to grab 20 offensive rebounds. No, the seeds of this performance were sown after the Cats foolishly thought a three-game win streak — all three coming in the friendly confines of Rupp Arena, two over teams in the bottom quarter of the SEC standings — meant they had “turned the corner” and experienced “a breakthrough.” Uh, not so fast."

At least the fact that Arkansas had beaten teams like Florida and Missouri on their home court seemed to offer an excuse for the loss.  There was no excuse for what happened at Georgia.  This game followed the script for Arkansas:  grab an early lead, fall apart in the middle of the first half, and play catchup the whole second half.  Kentucky showed a bit more fight and stayed in the game a bit longer, but there was no excuse for a 72-62 loss to the Bulldogs.  And this game seemed to show the great divide in UK’s freshmen talent that has been building all year.   Willie Cauley Stein and Archie Goodwin played hard and battled the whole game, combining for 30 points and 17 rebounds.   Alex Poythress and Ryan Harrow had 15 points and 8 rebounds.  Poythress fouled out in just 19 minutes and Harrow 25.  Goodwin also fouled out in 31 minutes of play.  After carrying the team for most of February, Julius Mays had gone cold.  And it was obvious that not one or two player could carry this team and they were not getting a team effort.

The sentiment was echoed by John Calipari in his post game statements:

"The biggest thing is: I am so disappointed in the job I’ve done with this team, I can’t even begin to tell you. I look at a team – I’ve done this 20-something years; I’ve never had a team not cohesive this time of year. Every one of my teams (was) cohesive. Every one of them had a will to win more than how they were playing. Every one of them had a fight. Well, if this team doesn’t have that, that’s on me. What in the heck did I do? I’ll tell you: I’m going to go back and evaluate how we practiced, what I accepted, because they’re giving us what I’ve accepted – which is, ‘It doesn’t matter whether we win or lose, I’m going to play the way I want to play.’"

Like most of the fans, Calipari was frustrated about how this team could beat Missouri and then lose to Georgia.  But it was not a shock to him:

"Really, it’s just a fight to win. You’ve got some guys that I don’t think understand that they’re at a point that they have to prove who they are now, individually. I don’t think they understand that. Like, prove yourself. They’re looking at this and saying, ‘Well, I don’t know …’ That’s part of it. They took on the challenge and played well at home. Florida is one of the best teams in the country and they’re coming into our building; they probably haven’t won there in a while. They’re coming in and beating us. I don’t care if it’s Senior Night or Bat Night, what night it is. It’s going to be a hard game for us. It’s a game that can change your season.”"