‘We were punked’ Kentucky’s ugly first half costs them a comeback victory vs. Vanderbilt

Kentucky played his worst half of the entire season in Saturday’s loss of 74-69 to Vanderbilt. 27 first half point was the fewest of any half this season, while 10 revenue and one under 40 percent shooting mark from the field composed the problems. The UK looked overwhelmed and even a little scared of how Commodores took control of the opening for 20 minutes.

“We were punked” Jaxson Robinson Said of Kentucky’s first half on postgame radio with Jack Givens.

It was a downright miserable start to this game for ‘Cats. But the half -time conversation from Mark Pope Almost Kentucky allowed to overcome a 14-point half-time hole and leave Nashville with a huge victory. UK OUTSCORED VANDERBILT 31-13 to open the second half and went ahead with as many as seven points. But another rough patch cost ‘cats to the point not left.

Kentucky couldn’t score in the last three minutes of the game while turning the ball over three times. Poor decision making was the right killer. That was all the water booth was needed to pull out the victory.

“The last three, four minutes. The last media -timeout, man, ”Robinson added. “We can’t have it. “

Had the game been close to the break, Kentucky probably wins this one who runs away. But once again, ‘cats slowly came out of the gate. The offense was unstoppable for about 12 minutes in the second half. However, they returned to playing a non-physical brand Basketball, which ‘Dores exploited. Per British statistician Corey PriceKentucky was +21 in the first 12 minutes of the second half and -12 in the last eight.

“The last couple of games we have preached in our dressing room that just protected without getting rid of,” Robinson said. “We have been called to a lot of mistakes. The last whole week, while we were at, this bye week, we have been sure we can test everything without getting off. I think it made us a little shy. This is sec. Timid is not a word you can use in sec. The judges didn’t really call anything. We just have to be harder. That’s it. “

However, Kentucky did not look shy in most of the second half. But a terrible first half was too much deficit. An even more grit finish in the last few minutes of regulation uncovered a deflating loss. Four of UK’s losses this season have come when they score fewer than 70 points. The offense has to cook for a complete game for Kentucky to be best.

It just wasn’t the case against Vanderbilt.

“In the dressing room at the break, we knew we had to come out with another mentality and play even harder,” Robinson said. “It started with our cutting offensively, us went and crash the glass. I think we did a good job of defensive rebounding in those 15 minutes. We got big stops, fantastic ball screen defense. But it’s just a matter of making it a whole game. We didn’t do it for the whole game and when you can’t do it for a whole 40 minutes, You won’t consistently win. “