In a 2-4 start to conference play, the Texas Longhorns wasted another superlative performance from junior wing Dailyn Swain, whose game-high 29 points weren’t enough to save head coach Sean Miller’s team from the typical array of bad mistakes in Wednesday’s 85-80 loss to the Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena.
Those mistakes by Texas contributed to 23 personal fouls and 35 free throws by Kentucky, which finished the game with a plus-12 advantage, the type of deficit that would normally require home-friendly
whistles, but did not in Lexington on Wednesday — the Longhorns were just that undisciplined.
Count Swain in that group for Miller after fouling out in 36 minutes, a blemish on an otherwise sensational performance during which he was often the best player on the court, going 10-of-16 shooting from the floor and making all seven of his free-throw attempts while adding six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Another massive issue for the Horns? The two made threes by Swain on six attempts were the only connections from deep for Texas — the rest of the team missed all 12 of their attempts, including six by senior guard Jordan Pope, who finished with eight points of 2-of-9 shooting and zero assists in a minus-13 performance that remains too typical for the Oregon State transfer.
Graduate guard Tramon Mark finished minus-20 in his 26 minutes.
With Kentucky making five triples on 27.8-percent shooting from three, the Wildcats finished the game plus-12 in scoring beyond the arc.
The short Texas rotation was even shorter in Lexington when junior forward Cam Heide was a late scratch due to illness, pushing junior guard Simeon Wilcher into the starting lineup for the first time as a Longhorn. Wilcher responded by scoring two points in 26 minutes.
With Texas head coach Sean Miller initially declining to insert sophomore forward Nic Codie into the rotation, it meant more frequent three-guard lineups or using graduate forward Lassina Traore and sophomore center Matas Vokietaitis together, a rare combination for the Horns this season.
By the under-12 timeout in the first half, Kentucky led 14-13 with both teams 6-of-15 shooting in a cold start, but despite the poor shooting for Texas, the Longhorns were able to get into the bonus when Vokietaitis drew a foul on a post up with 9:13 remaining.
Perhaps the biggest offensive problem for Miller’s team was the way in which the Wildcats turned three steals into six fast-break points by the under-eight timeout, a significant differentiator in the 23-23 tie as Kentucky mounted an 8-2 edge in transition. Vokietaitis and Swain played key roles in the Longhorns maintaining contact with the Wildcats in combining for 17 of the team’s first 23 points.
The runouts continued for Kentucky with a throw-ahead dunk that forced a timeout by Miller with 6:10 remaining and the Wildcats up 30-25.
Less than two minutes later, Kentucky head coach Mark Pope used his own use-it-or-lose-it timeout in the midst of a 7-0 run keyed by Texas suddenly getting out on the break as graduate guard Tramon Mark turned a defensive rebound by Swain into a transition layup and Wilcher threw down a dunk after a steal by Swain, who also hit a pullup three after seven Longhorn misses from distance to open the game.
The dunk by Wilcher broke a streak of 13 missed shots dating back to the Alabama game.
Kentucky was able to end that run, but Texas was able to get to the rim, with Swain finishing at the bucket after a spin move and Pope pushing the pace to convert a tough left-handed layup in traffic after Weaver came up with a deflection that Pope recovered.
The close first half ended in fitting fashion with the teams tied at 40-40 with a notable accomplishment by Kentucky — the Wildcats only committed one foul over the final 9:13 of the first half, the point at which the Horns got into the bonus.
One of the game’s inflection points came midway through the second half in the wake of a 7-0 run by Texas thanks to two baskets by Weaver and a late-clock three by Swain off the dribble that forced a timeout by Kentucky.
After the Wildcats broke the run to take a 57-56 lead, Otega Oweh got out in transition and was fouled by Wilcher from behind while elevating for a layup. On review, the common foul was justifiably elevated to a flagrant foul because Wilcher didn’t make a play on the basketball, affording Oweh two shots at the line and Kentucky the ball out of bounds. Oweh made both and a good baseline out-of-bounds call by Pope produced a lob at the rim and a foul on Traore, leading to two more made free throws and a four-point possession for the Wildcats.
Kentucky took advantage of the mistakes by Texas. More specifically, guard Collin Chandler took advantage, generating a rhythm by hitting a jumper before going on to score 14 of the next 15 points for the Wildcats, capped by a transition dunk after Vokietaitis lost the ball trying to dribble into traffic that gave Kentucky an 11-point lead, the largest of the game.
When Miller called a timeout with 5:41 remaining, the win probability for the Wildcats was at 96 percent, up from 64.8 percent before Wilcher’s flagrant foul.
One play that felt critical in the ensuing stretch was Traore biting on a pump fake by Denver Aberdeen with 1.5 seconds left on the shot clock, arguably coming after Aberdeen traveled trying to jump stop and fake.
Texas responded with a 7-1 surge to arrest the home team’s momentum as Kentucky struggled to score from the floor. When Mark came up with a steal and finished with a crafty layup on the other end, the lead was down to three points for the Wildcats, but Mark committed an unnecessary foul 30-plus feet from the basket, sending Kentucky to the line for free throws, a split trip that led to Mark hitting a mid-range jumper to cut the lead to two points with 56 seconds remaining.
The inability to defend without foul surfaced again for the Longhorns when Vokietaitis bit on a pump fake by Aberdeen with 26 seconds left. Aberdeen converted, Pope missed a three, and Texas was slow to foul after the miss. A bad foul committed by Kentucky sent Pope to the line for two made free throws, but more wasted time on the catch by Aberdeen on the inbounds pass hurt Texas, as did Aberdeen hitting both for the final score of 85-80.
Texas returns to the Moody Center on Saturday, hosting Georgia at noon on SEC Network in what projects as a toss-up game with Bart Torvik favoring the Bulldogs by two points.
