Not only had Kentucky avoided giving the ball away through the first seven games, but it also exhibited crisp ball movement, averaging an SEC-best 20.9 assists per contest which was the sixth-highest in Division I . But the Wildcats dished out just 14 assists against the Seahawks.
Saturday marked the first time this season Kentucky failed to score at least 81 points. Reaching that figure in each of their first seven outings was the Wildcats’ longest streak to start a season since the 1970-71 team .
“We came into this game selfishly, I think,” said sophomore guard Adou Thiero , who had seven points, six rebounds and three assists. “First half, we weren’t really swinging the ball to each other as much as we usually do. … Guys were trying to do things on their own — we were just out of it.”
Freshman guard Reed Sheppard was in the zone, though, pouring in 25 points, leading the Wildcats in the loss and tying his personal best set last month against Stonehill . He also pulled down a career- and team-high nine rebounds to go along with a game-high six assists.
“Any time you lose, it’s a bad feeling. Nobody likes to lose,” said Sheppard, who was 9 of 17 from the field (3 of 6 on 3s) and 4 for 4 at the free-throw line. “You have to give credit to UNC Wilmington. They played a great game, they hit shots. They did what they needed to do.”
Freshman forward Aaron Bradshaw , who made his college debut Saturday after being sidelined since earlier this year with a foot injury, had three points, two rebounds and a block in 13 minutes off the bench. Freshman guard D.J. Wagner , Bradshaw’s teammate at Camden High in New Jersey, sat out Saturday after injuring his ankle in Tuesday’s win over No. 8 Miami .
While Calipari provided no update on Wagner afterward, the coach was pleased with what he saw from Bradshaw in a limited role, pointing to the 7-footer’s plus-11 figure in the box score.
“That says he did OK,” Calipari said. “He’s still not in the flow with this stuff yet. But he did some good stuff. It’s a good start for him.”
Kentucky won’t play again until it heads to Philadelphia to face Penn next Saturday. The loss to the Seahawks was the first in what’s a relaxed portion of the Wildcats’ schedule, as they play around exams.
Kentucky has only five games in December: UNC Wilmington in the rearview mirror, Penn on deck, followed by matchups with North Carolina (Dec. 16), in-state rival Louisville (Dec. 21) and Illinois State (Dec. 29).
That leaves the Wildcats plenty of practice time to clean up their mistakes.
The same ones that reared their head at inopportune times Saturday.
