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5 Takeaways from Kentucky vs. South Carolina

By Chaka Cummings

LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY - JANUARY 11: John Calipari the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats gives instructions to his team against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Rupp Arena on January 11, 2020 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY - JANUARY 11: John Calipari the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats gives instructions to his team against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Rupp Arena on January 11, 2020 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – MARCH 31: Head coach John Calipari of the Kentucky Wildcats reacts to a play against the Auburn Tigers during the 2019 NCAA Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional at Sprint Center on March 31, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

Conference road games are always tough. And this game was a tale of two halves for this Kentucky Wildcats basketball team.

Kentucky entered Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks on Wednesday night. Despite the Gamecocks’ winless conference record, one must assume that a Frank Martin coached team will play hard. South Carolina pulled out an 81-78 victory at the buzzer, breaking the hearts of UK fans.

At the outset, it seemed John Calipari prepared his team to play a complete game in a road environment. However, second-half mistakes in combination with South Carolina going full Katniss Everdeen – catching absolute fire – cost Kentucky. In the end, multiple double-digit leads were squandered in this one and the Cats were not prepared to win, and win efficiently.

There were several takeaways from this contest that are interesting, both positive and negative, as the Cats now look ahead to Saturday’s contest against a red-hot Arkansas team.

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