Tuesday night’s loss to Georgia is as frustrating as it gets. It’s not a good loss at all. Every ounce of goodwill that Kentucky built up by sweeping Tennessee, beating Arkansas, and taking Florida 12 rounds is temporarily gone. The same pitchforks aimed at Mark Pope earlier this season are now back in full force, albeit temporarily.
However, and this may be a minority opinion, I think Tuesday night may have been more about Georgia winning the game than Kentucky losing the game. Even though the Bulldogs
had lost five of six coming in, with four of those losses by 15+ points, we may have underestimated them.
Earlier this season, the Bulldogs were leading the country in averaging nearly 100 points per game. They were getting up and down the court at will, which led to a top-25 ranking late in non-conference play through mid-January.
Georgia is big, athletic, and well-coached. They were due for a bounce-back performance, especially with Jeremiah Wilkinson, their leading scorer, back after missing multiple games with an injury.
That said, Tuesday night’s loss is inexcusable for the Wildcats. Leading 27-19 midway through the first half, that was the time to put the Bulldogs away. Instead, the Bulldogs seized control, eventually growing their lead to as many as 12 points in the second half.
It’s just disappointing all the way around. Missed lay-ups, free throws, turnovers. They all add up. The same issues that plagued this team earlier this season have resurfaced in the last two games. Against Florida is one thing. Georgia? Again, they are better than they appeared coming in, but those issues cannot happen against Georgia.
The reality is, Kentucky got a taste of humble pie Tuesday night. They thought they were in cruise control midway through the first half. Oh, were they wrong. People locally and nationally thought highly of the Wildcats’ effort in Florida to the point that some in the national media were saying this team could make a run to the second weekend.
Two things. One, Mark Pope didn’t sound like a head coach who took Tuesday night’s loss personally. He sounded like he was owning it. I like that.
Two, I think this team has another response in them. They didn’t play poorly Tuesday night. There were multiple times it looked like Kentucky was going to flip the game in their favor in the second half. Then, they had the lapses that featured the issues we’ve been talking about all season.
The last time this team lost two in a row this season, they won five straight games and eight of nine. They can do it again. I think Mark Pope has this team’s attention, and the veterans on this team have the attention of the role and the younger players.
This is still a team capable of beating anybody in the SEC and nationally. It truly is a game-to-game team. There’s still time remaining in the regular season, and plenty of opportunities for Quad 1 wins and résumé boosters.
Still, though, Tuesday night’s loss is inexcusable. Kentucky got a taste of humble pie and a reality check, regardless of whether Georgia is better than we thought.
Now, we’ll see how this team responds, again.
