The Kentucky Wildcats fell to the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge on Wednesday night by a score of 75-74.
Both teams got off to a fast start in this one, but they also slowed down as fast as they started. Each side had a long scoring drought with LSU’s over six minutes and Kentucky’s close to five minutes. A game of runs seemingly ensued from that point.
After the Tigers took a 27-26 lead, the Cats went on a 10-0 run right before the half to take control. Going into the locker room, Kentucky led 36-27.
After the break, Kentucky extended its lead to 15 after the 10-0 run increased to 16-0. However, LSU answered right back with a 21-4 run of its own to take the lead right back. From that point, both teams fought and clawed in what turned out to be an absolute battle, but the Tigers hit a buzzer-beater to knock off the Cats in the end.
Next up, the Cats will return to Lexington to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday afternoon.
Reeves is a road warrior
I have no idea where this team would be without Antonio Reeves. The man is an absolute warrior, even more so on the road.
Reeves has been the epitome of consistency in a season that’s been nothing short of amazing. He's averaging close to 20 points per game, and he seems to get even better away from home when Kentucky needs it most.
In this one, he dropped 20+ points for the fourth straight time away from Lexington. He excelled at all three levels—behind the arc, with that deadly floater, and getting to the rim. He was Kentucky’s only real source of offense for most of this game (see below).
Offense continues slow decline, while defense steadily improves
The Kentucky offense has seemingly hit a wall here as we approach March. Don't get me wrong, it hasn't been bad, but it’s been a shell of its former self over the past three contests, including this one.
At the same time, the defense has been much better, and part of me wonders if the effort being exerted on the defensive end has left the Cats with less energy on the offensive end. The two certainly seem to coincide.
There’s less ball movement. The shots haven't been falling at the same pace as they were. Turnovers have been an issue. Of course, you have to give to get, I suppose, and sacrificing some offense, which has been elite this season, for defense, which has been horrific this season, may be a good trade.
One thing to keep in mind is Tre Mitchell’s absence over the last few games. He missed the second half of the Ole Miss game and the entirety of the Auburn and LSU games. I’d venture to guess that’s helped the defense but hurt the offense. On the other hand, there has been marked improvement over the same time period by Justin Edwards, who looks to be slowly developing into an excellent defensive player and even hit three triples in this one.
I love the defensive improvement, and it was much needed, but at this point, we just need to hope the Cats can find the right balance between the two sides of the ball.
Dilly’s big second half gives Cats a chance
Rob Dillingham goes from the most frustrating player on the court to the most exciting in the blink of an eye. That’s exactly how this game went.
Dillingham had a rough first half on offense (2 points on 1-5 shooting) and defense, and I'm sure most of BBN was yelling at their TVs for John Calipari to get him out of the game. Sometimes, he just hurts the team.
The good news is that we don't often see full games like that from Dilly. For every rough half, there’s usually a really fun right before or after. He exploded in the second half (21 points on 7-11 shooting) as Reeves struggled with foul trouble. He kept Kentucky in the game when they couldn't buy a basket and even hit the go-ahead shot with less than 10 seconds to play.
He isn't perfect and is a bit erratic, but when he plays like he did in the second half, it’s easy to see why he's a projected top-five NBA Draft pick.
Unfortunately, the big games from Reeves and Rob weren't enough, as Kentucky dropped another game to a bad team.