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Well, ladies and gentlemen of the Big Blue Nation, that half went just about how I figured it would. We had a bad whistle early, but that happens a lot. We were able to go into the locker room only two baskets down, and honestly, if the Wildcats had made a few free throws in that half, we'd be tied or ahead.
First half stats
Halftime stats: #UK-Wisconsin pic.twitter.com/nyZM8A9JIf
— Eric Crawford (@ericcrawford) April 6, 2014
Kentucky needs to clean up the free throw shooting, work harder on defense, and execute a little better on offense. But honestly, this is not a bad place to be. Kentucky did a very good job on Frank Kaminsky, the Badgers are clearly foul-concerned, and the Wildcats are aggressive. The problem is, they've let a few devensive rebounds escape them despite having them in their hands. They've made a few silly errors on offense that led to turnovers and open threes that Wisconsin exploited. And the Badgers, a very good free throw shooting team, are making all of them.
You have to figure that won't happen in the second half. Look, if it does, we congratulate our foes on a well-deserved win. But more likely, Kentucky brings its entire compliment of skill back and keeps at the Badgers. That's what they have to do. I loved the effort, the defense was better than I'd hoped, and they are forcing everyone but Kaminsky to beat us. If Wisconsin gets that done, then I'll congratulate them with entire sincerity.
But I don't think they will. Go, 'Cats!