Another high-profile matchup and another disappointing finish as Kentucky falls to UCLA 63-53 in New York city. Defensively, the Wildcats had a fairly solid night, however, it was on the offensive end where they struggled, once again. Turnovers were an issue, however, it was poor shooting from the field as well as the free throw line that seemed to be the final nail in the coffin in this game.
Returning national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe came away with only eight points and perimeter shooting was almost non-exsistent through the contest. Antonio Reeves struggled mightily from outside and CJ Fredrick was a non-factor. The one bright spot was freshman Chris Livingston who finished with a career high 14 points on the night.
Unfortunately, for the Wildcats this has been an ongoing theme this season. The offense has been clunky, with no rhythm and now Kentucky sits 0-3 in their most high-profile games this season. This team must figure out a way to work through these woes, otherwise this season could turn into a long one in Lexington.
Right now, Kentucky is simply not getting much of anything from their two best perimeter shooters in Reeves and Fredrick. As long as this trend continues it is simply going to be next to impossible for this team to find success on offense. With that, it is also going to be a struggle to find success in the win-loss column as well.
The Bruins showed tonight that taking away Tshiebwe takes away the only consistent scoring threat Kentucky has to offer. The Wildcats have guys that can get to the basket, however, without a consistent perimeter presence to spread the court, driving lanes will remain closed. This has been the story of Kentucky offensively for a few years now.
Free throw shooting was an issue tonight as well. This came to haunt the Wildcats down the stretch against UCLA. Simply put, shooting has to improve. That being said, Kentucky struggled to get many good looks in this game. However, even when they did get a good look, they couldn’t get a shot to fall on a consistent level.
The road isn’t going to get any easier as we inch closer to SEC play. No matter what the situation, the Wildcats have a target on their back within conference play. With that being said, where does Kentucky go from here?
Maybe Calapari does his yearly ‘tweak’. It seems safe to say that Livingston has certainly earned more playing time going forward. You have to wonder when sophomore Damion Collins starts to see some court time. Does Cason Wallace start seeing more time with the ball in his hands creating off the dribble?
Right now there seems to be more questions than answers. With that being said, the season is still young. However, the closer we get to conference play the more things start to feel like real crunch time. Defensively, this team is as strong as anybody and can play with anybody. With that, Kentucky must find a way to find consistency on offense. The simple truth is you can hold teams under 70 points any day, however, if you can’t score 60, it is hard to win at this level of basketball.
