Big Run, Ensuing Letdown Give UK More to Learn from
Kentucky never trailed, but Harvard wasn’t going away either.
Not until the Wildcats delivered one of those second-half runs. You know, the kind that has Rupp Arena rocking and an opponent throwing passes out of bounds for no apparent reason.
On the strength of that spurt, an uncomfortably close game became a big UK lead. No. 7/7 (7-1) Kentucky reeled off 13 straight points to go up 20 points on the visiting Crimson (3-6) before holding on for a 79-70 victory.
“I thought at times we took bad shots, which can be basically a turnover, especially for a team like this who can get it off the backboard so quickly and transition to the other end,” Harvard head coach Tommy Amaker said. “It got away from us a little bit, and I thought that was our inability to maintain composure on the offensive end, which was a little disappointing for us.”
It began when UK led 59-52 with 11:24 left. Hamidou Diallo accounted for six points, Sacha Killeya-Jones three, and Nick Richards and Quade Green two each, but it was defense that really fueled the outburst.
“I think once we dial in defensively and once we focus in our assignments and everything that we need to do, then we’re really good and we stretch out leads,” said Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 12 points.
Over the course of a little more than three minutes, UK forced six turnovers and Harvard missed the only two field goals it managed to attempt.
“Every time we get stops on defense – blocked shots, steals – it just leads to great offense for us,” said Kevin Knox, who again led UK with 20 points. “We should be one of the best fast-break teams in the country, but fast breaks don’t start unless you get a stop on defense. So, every time we get a stop on defense I think that turns into something good for us because we’re one of the most athletic teams in the country. That’s what we have to excel at.”
But in another sign of the progress the young Cats still have to make, they were unable to bury the Crimson with the run. Harvard soon managed to score nine straight points of its own and closed to within single digits by the final buzzer.
“Especially with young kids, playing winning basketball, there are stretches that we don’t play winning basketball,” head coach John Calipari said. “I’m just going to make whatever play I want to make. We broke off plays at the end and guys just — why did you do that? Well, I was thinking of the tree, and then the bike came out, and the car almost hit me. What? I mean, why did you do that?”
That left Coach Cal asking for more, as he always does.
“If you’re delusional, like delusional, and you’re good, I’m good, well, you’re really going to change?” Calipari said. “How are you going to change? You can’t accept you need to change. So, I’ve told them over and over and I’ll say it again, I’m asking the impossible of this team, but that’s what I do for a living. I’m asking individuals to do stuff that’s probably impossible for them to do right now. But I’m asking them to try and strive and do it.”
It’s a challenge the Cats are accepting, though overcoming it will undoubtedly take time for a team so young.
“Just when we go up 20 or go up 30 be able to put our foot on their throats and be able to get good plays and good shots, and not turn into a selfish team,” Knox said. “I think that’s what we do when we get up. People start trying to get their own. The next thing you know they’re down eight. Coach is just trying to get us to when we get up by that much, be able to put your foot on their throat and be able to go up by 50 and have fun.”
With UK’s upcoming schedule – Monmouth, Virginia Tech, UCLA, Louisville and Georgia to close out the calendar year – 50-point leads aren’t all that likely to happen. Having fun is another story.
“This team is a bunch of good guys,” Calipari said. “They’re really trying. They’re really trying to please me. They just don’t know yet, and they shouldn’t. I’m playing all freshmen. They shouldn’t.”
