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Kentucky Basketball: 3 things we learned from Wildcats loss to Notre Dame

By Caleb Hightower

Dec 1, 2020; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Davion Mintz (10) drives to the basket against Kansas Jayhawks guard Dajuan Harris (3) in the second half at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 1, 2020; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Davion Mintz (10) drives to the basket against Kansas Jayhawks guard Dajuan Harris (3) in the second half at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Kentucky Basketball
Kentucky basketball /

Despite a ferocious second-half comeback, Kentucky Basketball fell to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 64-63 on Saturday.

It is no secret that Kentucky Basketball has been struggling as of late, which is why many Kentucky fans believed that Saturday’s contest was a “must-win game”.  However, it is still fairly early in the season, and overreacting to subpar play in November and December is never really necessary.

Kentucky’s performance in the first half of Saturday’s contest may have caused individuals to disregard my previous statement because the Wildcats were as out of sync as a team could possibly be on both ends of the floor.

After Isaiah Jackson knocked down a free throw to tie the game at five with 17:27 remaining in the first half, the Fighting Irish proceeded to go on a 15-4 run, which helped them obtain a 20-9 lead with 12:54 left. Things only got worse for the struggling Wildcats, as they allowed the Fighting Irish to go on a 13-0 run, and extend their lead to 24 (33-9) with 9:21 remaining in half #1.

It seemed like every time Kentucky needed to lock in defensively and stop the bleeding, Notre Dame managed to dig an even deeper hole for the Wildcats. The Fighting Irish led by as many as 24 in the first half and were able to go into halftime with a steady 48-26 lead (after Nate Laszewski drilled a jumper with 0:50 remaining, and Notre Dame was able to prevent a Kentucky basket.)

Notre Dame appeared to be on their way to an easy victory early in the second half when Cormac Ryan made a layup and a free throw to give the Fighting Irish a 53-33 advantage (after the Wildcats cut Notre Dame’s lead to 17). However, what occurred next was a major surprise to me, and probably many other college basketball fanatics out there. Kentucky looked like an entirely different ball club from the 15:35 mark to the 7:34 mark, when they stormed back into the game with an unexpected 16-0 run.

Notre Dame was able to get their lead back up to 9 about 4 minutes later, but Kentucky refused to go away, and with 41 seconds remaining in the contest, the Wildcats were suddenly within a point of the Fighting Irish (right after Olivier Sarr calmly knocked down a two-point jumper).

Kentucky had possession of the ball with under 10 seconds to play, and a chance to come away with a confidence-building victory, but Olivier Sarr’s mid-range jumper did not fall at the buzzer, and the Wildcats suffered a heartbreaking 64-63 loss to the Fighting Irish.

While Kentucky didn’t get the resulted that they wanted on Saturday and also fell to 1-4 in the process, the Wildcats showed concerned Kentucky fans that they may not be doomed after all, if they make a few adjustments moving forward. In this article, I want to look at three important things that we learned from Kentucky’s gut-wrenching defeat on Saturday.

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