Kentucky's coaching staff had a specific game plan drawn up to stop Santa Clara. The only problem? It wasn't working very well. The Broncos were knocking down shots, exploiting the coverage, and pushing the Wildcats to the brink of elimination before an all-time buzzer beater from Otega Oweh.
When the defensive adjustments finally came, they didn't originate from the guys wearing the quarter-zips on the sideline. According to a post-game revelation from Otega Oweh, it was junior big man Brandon Garrison who had to step up, scrap the scheme, and save the day.
That is an incredible testament to Garrison's basketball IQ, but it is a glaring indictment of Kentucky's coaching staff, which hasn't been great this year.
Santa Clara was exploiting a broken scheme
If you only glance at the overall box score, Santa Clara's three-point shooting numbers look relatively normal. They took 33 threes and made 12. That is slightly above their season average, but nothing mathematically backbreaking.
However, the real issue was how they were getting those looks. Sash Gavalyugov was absolutely dissecting Kentucky's ball-screen coverage. He was hitting contested threes and making plays for others because the coaching staff's defensive plan was putting the Wildcats a step behind the play.
Just look at the final play from Santa Clara in regulation. It was a simple pick and pop for Allen Graves, who got a wide-open look after a late closeout. It was Oweh's heroics that sent it to OT.
Following the win, Oweh laid out exactly what happened on the floor:
"We had a game plan from the beginning and we were locked in. But BG said let's switch 1-through-5. #2 [Gavalyugov] was getting hot, hitting a lot of 3s off the pick-and-roll. BG made a call. That just shows how BG is super locked in and is a game changer. We need that every game."
If Kentucky players are adjusting the scheme on the fly in the biggest game of the year, it raises serious questions about what the staff was seeing from the sideline.
Santa Clara was ahead for a good portion of the game and a lot of it had to do with the offensive movement they were able to create. They put pressure on Kentucky's bigs to get out and cover quicker players.
It wasn't working, and BG switched it up.
Coaching changes must come in Lexington
Mark Pope is the head coach, and he will be back next season unless he decides to quit, which isn't happening. But everyone else sitting on that bench needs to be placed under a microscope the moment this season concludes to see what they are actually bringing to the table.
You have no recruits, you have a busted game plan, and you have a team that has failed to live up to the talent they have, even with the injuries.
For a team to enter the most important game of the year with a defensive scheme that actively puts players in a bad spot is unacceptable. Good on Garrison for recognizing the flaw and having the veteran confidence to call an audible. But the reality is that a 20-year-old shouldn't have to play defensive coordinator to survive the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.
Brandon Garrison must stay locked in
As critical as this is of the coaching staff, Oweh's final point regarding Garrison is undeniably true: Kentucky needs this exact version of BG every single game.
When Garrison is locked in, he is a game-wrecking force. He finished the afternoon with 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 blocks, including two massive swats on Gavalyugov late in overtime after he called for the 1-through-5 switch.
But rewind just a few days to the SEC Tournament loss against Florida, and Garrison was a ghost, finishing with 0 points and 1 rebound. You simply cannot survive the month of March with that kind of extreme, up-and-down variance from a guy who was supposed to take a massive step forward.
Yes, Moreno has played well for a freshman, but he is still learning the game.
Garrison proved he has the IQ and the physical tools to carry this team defensively. Now, he has to prove he can do it twice in one weekend as the Wildcats prepare for a brutal Sunday clash with 2-seed Iowa State.