Lesson from loss at South Carolina: Kentucky must learn to play big boy basketball

When the Cats are running, as the late, great Cawood Ledford used to say, and the offense is moving and grooving and the shots are dropping, these Kentucky Wildcats are not just the highest-scoring team in the nation but the most entertaining, as well.

But what happens when showtime gets shut down?

John Calipari’s team answered that question with a thunderous thud Tuesday night at Colonial Life Arena when the tougher, grittier South Carolina Gamecocks applied the brakes to UK’s run-and-gun attack and walked off, or through their court-storming fans, with a 79-62 victory over the sixth-ranked Cats.

“I guess people will watch that tape and say that’s how you’ve got to play (us),” Calipari said afterward.

Oh, yes, you bet they will. At this very moment there are red-eyed assistant coaches all around the SEC furiously scribbling notes about South Carolina coach Lamont Paris’s impressive game plan while figuring out ways their teams can do the same.

“The great thing about this is we did things that are reproducible,” Paris said afterward.

Whether others can reproduce it remains to be seen, but you know there will be an attempt. When Calipari decided to take this year’s team back to the future, with a heavy emphasis on talented freshmen, you knew there would be a time when an older, more experienced opponent would play big boy basketball and punch these young Cats in the mouth. How would UK’s rookies react?

Now that it has happened — “(We) got manhandled,” Calipari said — how Kentucky responds could well tell the tale about the remainder of the season.

“We’ve got to figure out how we can get our freshmen up to par,” said UK senior Antonio Reeves while adding, “We’ve got to punch back.”

South Carolina kept Kentucky from running. With 6:54 left, Calipari’s club had managed just two fast-break points. (It finished with seven.) In their half-court offense, the Cats failed to find a flow. UK’s bigs had trouble establishing position. UK’s guards were bumped off course on drives to the basket. D.J. Wagner made just two of his 10 field goal attempts, mainly because his angle to the rim kept being pushed farther away from the rim. That UK was 4-of-13 shooting from three-point territory didn’t help open lanes.

And on defense, well, defense continues to be a problem. South Carolina averaged 1.241 points per possession, which dropped Kentucky from 75th to 98th in kenpom’s adjusted defensive efficiency rankings. (UK averaged 0.996 points per possession.) South Carolina entered the game making 33.2 percent of its three-point shots. The Gamecocks made 11 of 24 on Tuesday for 55.2 percent. They were credited with 20 assists on 29 made field goals.

“The ball was poppin’,” Paris said. “I thought the ball was moving all over the place.”

In a raucous road environment, Kentucky’s freshmen played like freshmen. “Shell-shocked” was a term Calipari used.

“I give (South Carolina) credit,” said the coach of the now 16-3 Gamecocks, who joined Kentucky at 4-2 in the SEC. “They came out, came right after us. They deserved to win.”

So the Cats are now 1-2 in SEC road play with a trip to Arkansas on Saturday’s schedule. Eric Musselman’s Razorbacks are a mess, but a dangerous one. Yes, Arkansas took a 10-8 overall mark and surprising 1-4 league record into Wednesday night’s game at Ole Miss, but the Razorbacks beat Duke earlier in the year. They topped a Texas A&M team that owns a win over Kentucky. Bud Walton will be rocking. Arkansas is capable.

“This is a great lesson for us,” Calipari said. “It’s a great lesson for a young team.”

The lesson being you can’t always just outscore your opponent, no matter your talent. Basketball isn’t always pretty. Showtime doesn’t show up every time. Some games are going to be played at a slower, tougher, grittier, more physical pace. Can these Cats win those grind-it-out games? They couldn’t Tuesday, but plenty more opportunities await down the road. On the road. Starting Saturday. This learning curve needs to be mastered in a hurry.

Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s loss at South Carolina

Box score from No. 6 Kentucky basketball’s 79-62 SEC loss at South Carolina

Kentucky’s electric offense sputters out big time in South Carolina. ‘We got punked.’

How did Big Z do in game two? Zvonimir Ivisic cools off in first game away from home.