Think a lot looks differently if Baker didn't get injured. Team lacks consistent outside shooting, and it puts added pressure on guys to make deep shots. Basketball usually comes down to making/missing and let's face it--the game turned on Diallo's shot that went halfway down, rolled around top of rim and out and if that drops, UK is up 7 and has all the momentum.
One thing I will say as a fan in general and one who enjoys watching UK basketball under Cal, and I believe this to be the case with several high profile people, they sometimes lose track of what they are hired to do. By that I mean, Cal is the Head Basketball Coach at UK, not the savior of all wrongs in the world. His job affords him a lot of opportunities to help people, but he also has to realize his #1 job is to help the players improve and win games. Lose focus on that, and no matter who you are, you'll have a year which humbles you and reminds you of your #1 job. The repeated protecting tool of saying the team is full of "Great Kids" is not something to be celebrated, it's to be expected. This generation of young men are too often praised for things that are rules that normal people live by and if you come to a program like UK which is selling NBA.....then don't be surprised to be critically evaluated. That includes Cal. You don't get mulligans and you are only as good as your last game. It's why Cal/coaches get paid big $ and stress is involved, but it's also what fans demand. You take their money, they travel to support you/program, they don't want to be told how to think/behave, and tire of the lectures as if they didn't know anything about the sport prior to your arrival. They want it fixed. That's life in big time athletics.
Will say as an outsider, this is the least enjoyable team to watch during Cal's era at UK. They don't play tough and lack urgency in all aspects. My amateur opinion is that UK was better when Cal played less people and they went 7 deep with 8th man being a rotational guy (fouls, spot minutes, role player like Wiltjer's FR year). Too many people play and within a game their minutes seem forced and not earned. Hope it gets figured out and wish you luck rest of year.