Kentucky basketball needed energy to beat Colgate, it came from two surprising sources

The Kentucky Wildcats once again started the game without their primary point guard Lamont Butler. They also didn't have their backup point guard in Kerr Kriisa. The starting lineup featured Jaxson Robinson at point guard, and things seemed to be going swimmingly, with the Cats taking an early 17-0 lead.

The subs came in, and things fell apart quickly for Kentucky, and the biggest absence wasn't Butler nor Kriisa. The thing that the Wildcats were missing the most was energy. It looked like Kentucky didn't really want to be there and were playing like it. Colgate took advantage and was only down two points at the half.

Trap Game with an "Energy Deficit"

Head coach Mark Pope said after the game that Kentucky had an "energy deficit" at one point in the game, but it looked like that was the problem for a lot of the game. It truly ended up being a bit of a trap game for Kentucky. They had just come off a big emotional win over Gonzaga, traveling across the country and three time zones, losing both their point guards, and having to start a non-point guard at the point. The backup was a true freshman who looked unready when he received minutes, and their next game was against their bitter rivals in Louisville. Trap game.

Kentucky didn't let themselves get trapped, but they almost did. They had to find a source of energy, they needed a spark and they found it from two surprising sources.

Trent Noah

Travis Perry, Trent Noah, and Collin Chandler, all true freshmen, all had minutes in this game. None of them looked particularly sharp, but one of them hustled his heart out. That was Noah. He came in off the bench and just fought for every ball, played hard, and out-rebounded his opponents (and even sometimes his teammates). He was a spark, and his 11 minutes brought energy back into the game. The other source of energy may not be as surprising, but a little as BBN was expecting to simply watch the Wildcats walk through this game.

Big Blue Nation

At a certain point, Kentucky fans could sense that they were needed. A lob pass from Otega Oweh to Amari Williams for the alley-oop woke Big Blue Nation up out of their slumber.

Fans started getting to their feet and cheering loudly. The place became a true home-court advantage, and Kentucky went on a run—17-2 during that stretch—to finally pull away from Colgate and slam the door on the trap game.

After the game, Pope said, "BBN is just unbelievable like they were incredible tonight. We were really at an energy deficit, and BBN just stood up all 20,000 of them and started giving us love that we probably didn't quite deserve tonight, and they carried us through."

Those energy sparks were the difference in the game, and Kentucky will have to find ways in future games to create and sustain their own energy, especially on the road.