State of blues: Talent dip drags Kentucky back to SEC pack

Kentucky head coach John Calipari talks with his players during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016, in Auburn, Ala. Auburn won 75-70. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Kentucky head coach John Calipari talks with his players during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016, in Auburn, Ala. Auburn won 75-70. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

FAYETTEVILLE -- Kentucky is down to four McDonald's All-Americans on its roster.

No wonder the Wildcats are struggling.

Kentucky, ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press poll in late November after beating Duke in Chicago, fell to No. 23 in Monday's poll after a 75-70 loss at Auburn on Saturday, which ended the Wildcats' 18-game winning streak against the Tigers.

"We're facing teams playing like their lives depend on it," Kentucky Coach John Calipari said. "We've got to be a desperate team, too."

photo

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

A graph showing the decline in ranking of the University of Kentucky basketball team.

The Wildcats (13-4, 3-2 SEC) are 1-3 on the road this season, including losses at UCLA and LSU. They also lost to Ohio State in New York.

Arkansas (9-8, 3-2) will try to hand Kentucky back-to-back losses for the first time in two seasons when the Wildcats play at Walton Arena on Thursday night.

"Every road game for us is the Super Bowl," said Calipari, who has a 203-42 record in his seventh season at Kentucky, including four Final Four appearances and the 2012 national title. "The guys that have been here know it. The young guys are finding that out.

"But it's a process. I'm not panicked in any way. I knew going into the season this wasn't last year's team."

Kentucky had nine McDonald's All-Americans last season when the Wildcats finished 38-1, losing to Wisconsin 71-64 at the Final Four. Six Wildcats were picked in the NBA Draft, including forward Karl Anthony-Towns No. 1 overall, center Willie Cauley-Stein No. 6, forward Trey Lyles No. 12 and guard Devin Booker No. 13.

"Kentucky's very different from last year," Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl said. "They had a dominating front court with several NBA players. Karl-Anthony Towns was the best player in college basketball, and you could run everything through him. Willie Cauley-Stein was a veteran."

Pearl said Kentucky's front-court players this season are "athletic" and "very capable" but not dominating.

Freshman big man Skal Labissiere, a native of Haiti rated the No. 1 center in this year's recruiting class, was supposed to fill the void on the Wildcats' front line. He was a preseason first-team All-SEC pick by media and coaches, but he has been a nonfactor in recent games.

Labissiere, 6-11, is averaging 7.7 points and 3.2 rebounds on the season, but 4.2 and 3.0 in SEC games. He started and averaged 21.6 minutes the first 11 games, but he has played off the bench in the past six games.

The past three games Labissiere has averaged 8.7 minutes. He had 4 points, 2 rebounds and 1 blocked shot in 8 minutes at Auburn, but that minor contribution seemed to excite Calipari.

"Skal has finally got the pressure off of him, so just play now," Calipari said. "I don't want it to be 30 or 40 minutes, because he's not ready for that. But if he can go 15, 20 minutes and really help our team, it's going to change his mentality and it's going to help us immensely.

"He has a big presence, but we've got to see what are the max minutes he can go right now, because I don't want to throw him to the wolves like we did early. It just didn't work."

Kentucky's McDonald All-Americans are sophomore guard Tyler Ulis, averaging 14.4 points and 6.1 assists; senior forward Alex Poythress (9.6 points, 6.9 rebounds), who has come back from knee surgery; freshman guard Isaiah Briscoe (10.7 points); and junior forward Marcus Lee (7.7 points, 7.1 rebounds).

Freshman guard Jamal Murray, the top high school player in Canada last season, is averaging a team-high 17.8 points and has hit 46 of 119 three-point attempts.

"It's a team that we know is very, very talented," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "It's Kentucky. That's all you have to know is it's Kentucky."

The Wildcats are 30-6 under Calipari in games after a loss.

Arkansas and South Carolina were the last teams to hand Kentucky consecutive losses, when the Razorbacks won at Rupp Arena 71-67 in overtime on Feb. 27, 2014, and South Carolina beat the Wildcats 72-67 on March 1, 2014, in Columbia, S.C.

"They're going to be focused anyway," Anderson said. "I think every game is a big game in conference play. I'm sure Cal is just like me as he sees it as an opportunity to go steal one on the road."

Kentucky's lone road victory this season was 77-61 at Alabama. Poythress scored a career-high 25 points and Murray added 21. Briscoe had 12 points, Lee had 11 rebounds and Ulis had 8 points and 8 assists.

"Kentucky isn't as deep as they were over the last couple of years, but Tyler Ulis is the prototypical point guard.," said Crimson Tide Coach Avery Johnson, a former NBA point guard and coach. "His picture is next to the words 'point guard' in the dictionary. He's a terrific player and controls their team. Poythress is tough inside and Murray's a handful.

"They do have some guys with some NBA talent. I hope they all go to the NBA, so I won't have to look at them after this year."

More NBA talent is on the way.

Four signees from the early period in November are McDonald's All-Americans, including Bentonville guard Malik Monk, but Calipari's focus is on getting the Wildcats playing like the national championship contender they were projected to be going into the season.

"I look at us, and my mentality is we'll break through at some point," Calipari said.

Kentucky closed the 2013-2014 regular season at 22-9 and entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 8 seed, but the Wildcats advanced to the national championship game where they lost to Connecticut 60-54 to finish 29-11.

"We almost ran out of runway," Calipari said. "Then we got the plane down, and we got in the NCAA Tournament and got to the final game and had the chance to win the national title."

Calipari said this season's team has some of the same issues that team had regarding the need to make more clutch plays and be tougher physically and mentally.

The Wildcats blew a 12-point second-half lead at Auburn. They led Mississippi State by 20 points at home, but the Bulldogs pulled within three points in the final minute before Kentucky held on to win 80-74.

"We lose one, and we should have lost the other," Calipari said. "You think about that.

"Historically, my teams if you get up 10, it's death for the other team. That's not the case right now, and most of it is young guys not understanding winning basketball at crunch time.

"That's what we've got to work on. The only way you get through it is experience."

Kentucky's most-lopsided loss was at LSU 85-67.

"They're a young team, and those guys have to go through some growing pains," LSU Coach Johnny Jones said. "Sometimes people don't expect it because they have Kentucky across their chests.

"They've got quality players, and they'll continue to get better."

Sports on 01/20/2016

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