Kyle Wiltjer wasn’t happy following Kentucky’s loss to Alabama Tuesday night. He knows the Wildcats, who led at halftime, missed an opportunity to defeat the Crimson Tide.
“We didn’t close it out,” Wiltjer sid. “They made their run and we didn’t execute down the stretch. We didn’t get stops and didn’t get key rebounds. I mean, it kills you any time you lose, so it hurts, especially because we knew we could have won the game. We didn’t execute down the stretch, so it definitely hurts a lot.”
The loss dropped the Wildcats to 12-6 overall and 3-2 in the Southeastern Conference, putting the squad in desperation mode going into a three-game stretch that includes a home game against LSU, followed by road encounters next week at league surprise Ole Miss and Texas A&M, which defeated Kentucky 83-71 on Jan. 12 at Rupp Arena.
More than halfway through the season, Kentucky coach John Calipari doesn’t think his team has fully supported his system. Without mentioning names, Calipari said following the loss to Alabama that certain players aren’t on the same page as the coaching staff. Kentucky had appeared to be headed in the right direction following wins over Tennessee and at Auburn last week, but reverted to past problems against the Crimson Tide.
“(It was a) tough game, but we still haven’t totally bought in — individual players haven’t,” Calipari said. “Obviously late in the game, we took chances, we left our feet, we fouled and we let them get offensive rebounds.
“It’s all that we talked about late in the game — give them one tough shot, do not foul, do not leave your feet and if they beat us
See STEP, A12
that way, we will go home and say, ‘hey, they just haven’t bought in and that is what we are doing.’ This is a team that is growing and getting better, we showed signs of that and now we took a step back – this is a hard place to play.”
Kentucky’s main issue against Alabama turned out to be a problem that has plagued the squad the entire season — lack of consistency in the backcourt and an inexperienced go-to player in a close game.
“Our guard play was not near their guard play, it just wasn’t,” Calipari said. “We reverted back to just throwing it to Kyle Wiltjer in the post to try to keep the game close, to give us a chance to win, and we had our chances.”
One of those chances came when freshman Archie Goodwin missed a crucial layup late after it appeared he was fouled on the play. Calipari said lack of experience showed on Goodwin’s part, despite the no-call.
“If they are not going to call those (fouls), then Archie (Goodwin) needed to pull up or shoot around them,” he said. “I just kept telling him and he just kept going. So I will watch the tape to see if he got whacked or not and he may not have, the official was right on it and said he didn’t get touched — bodies were flying — but he said he didn’t get touched and I have to trust (the official’s) judgment on it.”
Although the season is far from over, the Cats can’t afford losing close contests, especially on the road.
“We didn’t close it out,” Wiltjer sid. “They made their run and we didn’t execute down the stretch. We didn’t get stops and didn’t get key rebounds. I mean, it kills you any time you lose, so it hurts, especially because we knew we could have won the game. We didn’t execute down the stretch, so it definitely hurts a lot.”
The loss dropped the Wildcats to 12-6 overall and 3-2 in the Southeastern Conference, putting the squad in desperation mode going into a three-game stretch that includes a home game against LSU, followed by road encounters next week at league surprise Ole Miss and Texas A&M, which defeated Kentucky 83-71 on Jan. 12 at Rupp Arena.
More than halfway through the season, Kentucky coach John Calipari doesn’t think his team has fully supported his system. Without mentioning names, Calipari said following the loss to Alabama that certain players aren’t on the same page as the coaching staff. Kentucky had appeared to be headed in the right direction following wins over Tennessee and at Auburn last week, but reverted to past problems against the Crimson Tide.
“(It was a) tough game, but we still haven’t totally bought in — individual players haven’t,” Calipari said. “Obviously late in the game, we took chances, we left our feet, we fouled and we let them get offensive rebounds.
“It’s all that we talked about late in the game — give them one tough shot, do not foul, do not leave your feet and if they beat us
See STEP, A12
that way, we will go home and say, ‘hey, they just haven’t bought in and that is what we are doing.’ This is a team that is growing and getting better, we showed signs of that and now we took a step back – this is a hard place to play.”
Kentucky’s main issue against Alabama turned out to be a problem that has plagued the squad the entire season — lack of consistency in the backcourt and an inexperienced go-to player in a close game.
“Our guard play was not near their guard play, it just wasn’t,” Calipari said. “We reverted back to just throwing it to Kyle Wiltjer in the post to try to keep the game close, to give us a chance to win, and we had our chances.”
One of those chances came when freshman Archie Goodwin missed a crucial layup late after it appeared he was fouled on the play. Calipari said lack of experience showed on Goodwin’s part, despite the no-call.
“If they are not going to call those (fouls), then Archie (Goodwin) needed to pull up or shoot around them,” he said. “I just kept telling him and he just kept going. So I will watch the tape to see if he got whacked or not and he may not have, the official was right on it and said he didn’t get touched — bodies were flying — but he said he didn’t get touched and I have to trust (the official’s) judgment on it.”
Although the season is far from over, the Cats can’t afford losing close contests, especially on the road.
