The Kentucky Wildcats fell LSU Tigers 75-74 Wednesday night in Baton Rouge.
Both teams got off to a fast start but slowed down as quickly as they started. Each side had LSU's longest scoring drought of over six minutes and Kentucky's of five minutes. From there the game of runs appeared.
After the Tigers took a 27-26 lead, the Cats went on a 10-0 run. Kentucky led 36-27 going into the locker room.
After halftime, Kentucky extended its lead to 15 after a 10-0 run that extended to 16-0. However, LSU responded with a 21-4 run of its own to regain the lead. From then on, the two teams battled and it turned into an all-out battle, but the Tigers eventually hit a buzzer-beater to topple the Cats.
Next, the Cats will return to Lexington Alabama Crimson Tide Saturday afternoon.
Reeves is a road warrior
I don't know where this team would be without Antonio Reaves. The man is an absolute warrior, even more so on the road.
Reaves has been the epitome of consistency in a season that's nothing short of amazing. He averages 20 points per game and gets away from home when Kentucky needs him the most.
In this, he scored 20+ points for the fourth time away from Lexington. He excelled at all three positions—behind the arc, that deadly floater and getting to the rim. He was Kentucky's only real offense for much of this game (see below).
Offense continues to slowly decline, while defense steadily improves
It looks like the Kentucky offense has hit a wall here as we approach March. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad, but it's a shell of its former self over the last three matches.
At the same time, the defense is very good, and I wonder if the effort on the defensive end has left the Cats with less energy on the offensive end. The two are certainly compatible.
Ball movement is limited. Views are not falling at the same pace. Turnover is an issue. Of course, you've got to get, I think, sacrifice some offense, which has been elite this season, for a defense, which has been terrible this season, and it might be a good trade.
One thing to keep in mind is the absence of Trey Mitchell for the past few games. He missed the second half Be missed game and the entirety of the Auburn and LSU games. I'm inclined to guess that it helped the defense but hurt the offense. On the other hand, at the same time there has been a significant improvement by Justin Edwards, who is slowly developing into a better defender and even scored three triples in this one.
I like the defensive improvement, it's been much needed, but at this point, we have to hope the Cats find the right balance between both sides of the ball.
Delhi's big second half gives the Cats a chance
Rob Dillingham goes from the most disappointing player on the field to the most exciting in the blink of an eye. That's how this game went.
Dillingham had a rough first half offensively (2 points on 1-5 shooting) and defensively, and most of BBN was screaming at their TVs to get John Calipari out of the game. Sometimes, he hurts the team.
The good news is that we don't get to see such full games from Delhi very often. At each approximate half, usually the front or back is the most fun. He exploded in the second half (21 points on 7-11 shooting) as Reaves struggled with foul trouble. He kept Kentucky in the game when he couldn't get a basket and hit the go-ahead shot with less than 10 seconds to play.
He's not perfect, a bit erratic, but when he plays like he did in the second half, it's easy to see why he's a top-five prospect. The NBA Draft pick up
Unfortunately, big games from Reaves and Robb weren't enough as Kentucky dropped another game to a bad team.
