QUICK TAKES: Kentucky vs. Notre Dame
Notre Dame players began the celebration after beating Kentucky 66-62 on Saturday in South Bend. (Matt Cahsore/USA Today Sports)
Jeff Drummond • CatsIllustrated
Managing Editor Edit
@JDrumUK
In our regular postgame feature, the Cats Illustrated staff offers its first impressions from Kentucky's 66-62 loss on Saturday at Notre Dame...
JUSTIN ROWLAND:
It seems clear to me that this team would have benefited from a more difficult schedule. There were too many games that didn't help them. An experienced team could have handled more. This was UK's first true road game and they did not play on a mission as you have to against high major competition on the road. The defense cratered in the second half. Notre Dame just executed better than Kentucky. There was too much standing around and not enough good ball movement on offense. There was poor shooting. Oscar Tshiebwe was really the only bright spot. This is a troubling loss because I'm starting to wonder if they have a bunch of good players or a bunch of average players.
JEFF DRUMMOND:
This was a poor effort today by Kentucky against a 3-4 Notre Dame team that has lost to the likes of St. Mary's, Boston College, and one of the worst teams in the SEC, Texas A&M. With the exception of Oscar Tshiebwe, the Cats didn't look like they had one other guy who was interested in competing in this one. Kentucky allowed 38 points in the paint to the Fighting Irish. Thirty-eight. And the nation's leading rebounding margin team got beat on the glass 33-28 by a team with modest size and marginal athleticism. Offensively, Kentucky continues to look like it has no clue if it can't get in transition, something that everyone the Cats face is going to attempt to take away. UK went 7:56 without a bucket in the second half. With a roster full of all-conference veterans and a 5-star freshman. One has to wonder if the horrific scheduling this year -- beating up on seven cupcakes in a row since opening the season against Duke -- did not come back to haunt UK. Notre Dame came in on a three-game losing skid, but all three were against P5 programs. Were the Irish better prepared today?
