Kentucky loses an ugly, win-win game to Auburn as Calipari’s discontent grows

by

Shanna Lockwood / UA Athletics

Shanna Lockwood / UA Athletics

“We let him escape on the road.” John Calipari was right about that on Saturday.

Days after letting Alabama drain 14 triples, he effectively pulled the shot at the SEC’s second-best three-point shooting team, though it still wasn’t enough to leave the Auburn Arena with a win. The Wildcats have lost to Auburn for the fourth time in five years after the 66-59 loss went down to the UK by 4-8. There has been no Kentucky team with the worst record in 12 games since Adolph Rupp became the Cats ’head coach.

The loss to Auburn is more infuriating than the previous seven for some reason and John Calipari only made it worse at his post-game press conference. Before we got there, everything unfolded here.

Scary first part

“Ugly” can’t sum up the first half exactly. The score was 2-2 in the first half. Kentucky missed its first six shots. Auburn started 1 of 15 from the ground. Both teams didn’t lack a lot of disputed shots; neither of them could make a plan. Fortunately, Dontaie Allen and Jacob Toppin entered the line-up and gave the United Kingdom something offensive, taking a 9-2 lead in the 11th minute. It all started with an emphatic ending on the brink of Allen.

Kentucky had a chance to escape with the game at first, but found no offensive pace. At least they found out who could contribute points, even if it wasn’t enough to win the second half of the minutes.

Where are Allen and Toppin?

That’s the question the BBN was asking when neither player, who led the Cats with eight points in the first half, was on hardwood at the start of the second half. It took more than four minutes for Toppin to get into the game and more than six for Allen to get some playing time. Why didn’t they play?

“I want to win every game I train, but the other side is that I don’t try to get anyone’s heart out,” Calipari said, “so you can change them when three or four minutes pass.”

They only had a few minutes at a time. Allen came in cold during the final minute of the game, finishing with eight minutes left in the second half as the only player with a positive +/- in the final 20 minutes.

BJ Boston: It’s not good yet

At the start of the season, BBN’s fascination with Dontaie Allen seemed to stem from his status as a state hero. While the head coach may consider that this is still the case, now fans want to play him because he is one of the few players who can make shots. Frustration is amplified when BJ Boston is the reason Allen is on the sidelines.

Boston scored five points, scoring just 2 of 9 field goals in 27 minutes of action. It’s not that he’s not helping: Boston hurts the team when he’s on the ground. He committed five business losses, two of which were in the most important stretch of the match. It’s one thing to give a player a long strap. All this extra wear on the Boston belt is suffocating the rest of the team.

The turning point

Despite the Wildcats ’poor play, they actually headed for one with ten minutes to play and seemed to get rid of the road to victory. Then, officials fell for the most fallen failure since Chris Jones set the standard for terrible flops in 2015.

It’s safe to say that Mintz wasn’t happy with the call, sharing this with his post-game Instagram story.

The play was revised for a flagrant foul. Unlike the college football goal, officials cannot give up an inadvisable foul. Sharife Cooper’s performance gave Auburn the ball and started a 16-5 run over the next five minutes, which was fueled by the transition points of some Boston changes. Despite a late push, this race proved to change the game.

An impressive final boost

While Boston will attract the wrath of most fans, Olivier Sarr was also an important part of the problem. Sarr was -15, the worst on the team, and uninspired on the post, as the Tigers caught 16 offensive rebounds. Once Boston and Sarr were dragged, Kentucky made an almost enough push to win.

After ten points with five minutes left to play, the Wildcats turned the defense into an offensive. A couple of blocks sparked transitional arrangements for Mintz and Askew to reduce the deficit. With a minute to play, Toppin but a BODY on an Auburn defender. Unfortunately, the most nasty Wildcat dunk of the season wasn’t called And One, but it turned it into a two-point game.

Despite giving up a make-up for Cooper for the next possession, Kentucky had one more chance. Askew took his first free kick and then missed the second. Keion Brooks bounced back. Instead of declaring a foul on either of Auburn’s two defenders who reached the UK’s second year, officials called a jump ball. Possession went to Auburn, the Tigers made their free throws and finished the game.

A harsh reality

Kentucky probably won’t make the NCAA tournament. It’s a hard pill to swallow, but it’s the reality we have to accept after the loss to Auburn.

Although the UK has struggled at the Auburn Arena for the past five years, the Tigers are not a great basketball team. This was only his second win of the season in the SEC. All the owners of advanced statistics called this game a revolution. This was a game Kentucky needed to win, they were in a position to win and they couldn’t get the job done. John Calipari deserves all the blame for this loss.

Next week’s schedule will be made easy at the Wildcats. After that, four first 25 teams are waiting. This team has done nothing to convince us that they can defeat good teams and their head coach has done nothing to suggest that he will make significant changes to ensure the UK does not miss the NCAA tournament.

.Source