Kentucky Basketball: Takeaways from Wildcats upset loss to Michigan State

Kentucky Basketball was the favorite to beat unranked Michigan State but after 50 minutes, they couldn’t prevail. Here are some takeaways from the defeat.

Kentucky Basketball and Michigan State started the Champions Classic in style on Tuesday night with a double overtime thriller that saw the Spartans pull out an upset against the Wildcats. The game had everything: ties, lead changes, buzzer-beating moments, missed free throw dramatics, and the season debut of only the third-ever national player of the year to return to school in Oscar Tshiebwe.

There’s a lot to break down from this game from the Kentucky perspective. The good news? Oscar Tshiebwe is BACK! The reigning national player of the year came off the bench to score 22 points and snag 18 rebounds (six offensive). Freshman Cason Wallace put on a show and was a defensive star, coming away with eight steals.

The bad news? Kentucky’s group of jump shooters that were shooting 51% from three-point range in their first two home games against Howard and Duquesne went ice cold in Indy, making only seven of their 25 attempts (28%). Late-game blunders from the free throw line kept the Cats from being able to put the game away. Defensive lapses occurred in the worst possible time and outside of Wallace, the UK freshmen looked like 18-year-old freshmen that were playing in their first nationally televised basketball game.

This team has the roster construction to be one of the best teams in college basketball all season long. The loss will provide some lessons for them moving forward. But for now, let’s dive a little further into what all went down in Indianapolis.

Oscar Tshiebwe is BACK!

As previously mentioned, the first reigning national POY to return to school since Tyler Hansbrough made his 2022-2023 debut last night in vintage fashion. The double-double machine had an all-around impact on the game. His 22 points were scored from his ability to grab offensive rebounds (he grabbed six offensive boards to save UK possessions) and his ability to move along the baseline without the ball for his stellar ball-handling guards (Sahvir Wheeler and Wallace) can find him for dunks once they broke down defenses.

His impact was felt immediately when he entered the game for the first time at the 14:55 mark. Coach John Calipari made his first substitutions of the game and as soon as Tshiebwe stood up and took off his warm-up shirt, you could hear the wild reception from the UK faithful all the way through the TV. Even legendary ESPN broadcaster, Dick Vitale, was ready to hop off the desk and ask for an autograph in his classic enthusiastic style.

Coming back from an injury, however, it was safe to assume he might experience a slow start to get back into the flow of a game but that was certainly not the case. He missed a jump hook on his first offensive possession but on the second, he did what he does best: grab an offensive rebound and convert it into two points. At that point, the nation’s best offensive rebounder was officially BACK. In his first ten minutes of action alone, he compiled nine points and six rebounds.

He was a monster on the defensive side of the floor too, blocking four shots on the night. Once Tshiebwe fouled out with 32 seconds remaining in the first overtime, Kentucky’s offensive margin for error evaporated and the defensive presence on pick-and-rolls went with it, allowing Michigan State to run a few of them to lead to lobs and dunks during some of the more crucial possessions in the second overtime to put the Cats away.

Cason Wallace impresses on a national stage

The national headlines from this game will certainly revolve around Michigan State pulling away late and the return of Tshiebwe. However, I can’t help but be blown away with the performance of freshman point guard Cason Wallace.

Wallace got off to a roaring start where, during the first minute of the game, he read a pass from Spartan Malik Hall intended for A.J. Hoggard like a book and jumped the route like he was an NFL cornerback. The impressive interception resulted in a slam dunk on the other end to give Kentucky their first points of the game. He would go on to collect seven more steals throughout the game to increase his game total to eight.

He has impeccable defensive instincts and does a fantastic job in anticipating passes as well as swiping over to help on drives and strip ball-handlers without fouling them.

He displayed exceptional floor general traits as well, dropping off five assists including one late in the first half where he broke down the Michigan State defense, attracted three Spartan defenders in the paint and made a slick pass to Tshiebwe for the jam. He and fellow point guard Wheeler (who accounted for a team-high eight assists) were able to get into the paint at will against Michigan State and proved to be Kentucky’s most reliable source of offense. Wallace also totaled 14 points on an efficient 5/10 shooting from the field.

Free throws and defensive lapses: Kentucky’s downfall

Now it’s time to get negative and look at how Kentucky let this one slip away. Let’s start with the free throws. This isn’t the first time a Calipari-coached team let one get away at the free throw line and if you’re a Kentucky fan, you hope this isn’t an omen of how this team plays in tight games down the road. They made only 16 of their 24 free throws (66.7%) and many of those misses came late in the game with chances to either make it a multiple-possession game or to force Michigan State to make a three-pointer to continue the game.

Up by one with 15 seconds left, Wallace split a pair of free throws, allowing Michigan State to only need a two-pointer to tie it. Wallace again had a chance to force Michigan State to need a three but split his free throws with seven seconds left which eventually led to another defensive breakdown, leading to a Malik Hall dunk with one second left to send the game to double overtime, where they ultimately fell.

Now, the defensive lapses. For the most part, I felt like UK’s defense was ok. But in the most crucial defensive possessions in regulation and overtime, they had lapses of miscommunication which led to easy MSU dunks.

Let’s start with regulation: after a thunderous Tshiebwe block of Hoggard’s floater, Kentucky still held a 62-60 lead with 4.7 seconds left and MSU inbounding underneath the Wildcat basket. MSU ran Tyson Walker off a double screen from Joey Hauser and Malike Hall at the free throw line. Wheeler followed Walker around the screens, Hauser turned to pop to the three-point line after his screen was set and then…the breakdown happened. Kentucky forward Jacob Toppin runs to follow Hauser to the perimeter. Tshiebwe, who was guarding MSU big man Malik Hall, jumped out to the perimeter to defend the three-point line. In that split second, Hall notices there is nobody between him and the basket and rolls to the rim for an easy dunk. The breakdown was either a misunderstanding of defensive assignment or a miscommunication between Toppin and Tshiebwe.

On the last defensive play in overtime, Michigan State was down two with seven seconds left. But this time, they inbounded the ball underneath their own basket. Hoggard in-bounds the pass to Walker at half-court and creates a three-on-three scenario with Walker handling the ball, Wheeler in pursuit of the dribbling Walker, Jacob Toppin at the free throw line containing the Walker drive and CJ Fredrick standing in-between both Hall on the wing and Jaden Akins in the corner. The pass finds Hall, who fakes the pass to Akins in the corner, drives past Fredrick, and with Wheeler slipping and falling, creates a wide-open driving lane for Hall to easily dunk the ball with a second left.

A miscommunication and a slip-up in transition along with free throw woes ultimately kept Kentucky from coming out on top.

Final Takeaway

For the most part, Kentucky played well. The aforementioned defensive lapses and free throw struggles played a big part in the loss but it’s also worth noting the shooting struggles. This was Kentucky’s first game away from the friendly confines of Rupp Arena and the scorching three-point shooting did not follow. Fredrick was 1/6 and Antonio Reeves was 1/3 from three. They couldn’t get in a rhythm nor could they confidently knock down many of the open looks they had.

What also didn’t help things, was that outside of Wallace, the talented Wildcat freshman were non-existent. Chris Livingston scored a point in 12 minutes and Damion Collins scored two points on 2/4 free throw shooting in 18 minutes during his debut.

This Kentucky team still has what it takes to be a contender this season. I still firmly believe they have one of the five best rosters in college basketball. But they still need to learn how to close out games and Tuesday night was a prime example of how they can be beat.