Steve Donahue could see this coming. Despite falling to what some perceived to be the best team left in the NCAA Tournament, the Cornell coach wasn’t convinced.  

‘I think there are a lot of positives about Kentucky,’ Donahue started. ‘My concern is that I don’t think for 40 minutes that they may be able to handle this against a team like us that’s a little more longer and athletic with experience. Maybe the next game. West Virginia is terrific.’ 

Saturday, Donahue statement proved to be prophetic. Despite holding the No. 1 seed in the East Regional and boasting a roster full of high profile NBA prospects, inconsistency and inexperience ultimately cost Kentucky a Trip to the Final Four. As Donahue had predicted, the Wildcats struggled against a long, athletic and experienced West Virginia squad, falling 73-66 at the Carrier Dome in the East Regional final. 

After Thursday night’s win over Cornell, star freshmen John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins openly talked about the hope of getting UK to the Final Four. For the duo that is widely expected to be among the top five selections in June’s NBA draft, that was the ultimate goal heading into this tournament.  

But at this stage in the Tournament, the not playing up to their capabilities would end up prematurely ending that dream. 

‘We have had shooting games like this,’ Calipari said. ‘One game we lost and the other we kind of hung in there and won them at the end. Against West Virginia, they’re too good. …And you are just not going to go and play the way we played and miss free throws and shots and win.’ 

In the early going, Kentucky appeared to be too much talent for West Virginia to handle. Despite trailing 6-2, Kentucky rattled off an impressive 11-0 run, holding the Mountaineers scoreless for more than six minutes. But when WVU made a second half run of its own, Kentucky crumbled. 

Despite finishing with a game-high 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists, Wall struggled to find his shot. Most of his points game at the rim in transition, as he finished just 7-for-18 from the field and only 4-for-8 from the charity stripe. It wasn’t just Wall, either. The trend was evident up and down the roster. 

‘It was one of those days where we weren’t making shots,’ Wall said. ‘Usually we win these type of games. They are a great team. We couldn’t fight our way through it and win.’ 

After watching the Wildcats shoot just 2-for 16 from the field against the Big Red, West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins employed a 1-3-1 defense to force Kentucky to fire away from the outside. The strategy worked. Kentucky shot just as poorly as it did against Cornell (12.5 percent) from beyond the arc, but shot it twice as many times (32).  

Once again, the inconsistent shooting proved to be Kentucky’s Achilles heel. The group of talented youngsters couldn’t overcome its offensive transgressions against a more experienced, consistent West Virginia squad. In this case, their talent was simply not enough. 

‘If we would have made shots, we would have spread (the defense) out and it would have been easier to find DeMarcus and Patrick in the post,’ Wall said. ‘They went 1-3-1 and we didn’t knock down the shots.’ 

UK didn’t drain its first 3-point attempt until the 3:28 mark in the second half. By that time, the damage had already been done. West Virginia held a nine point lead and the Wildcats were reeling. All they could do was throw up contested, desperation 3s to save their season.  

Forced into a come-from-behind situation against the No.2 seed in the East Region, Kentucky’s inexperience showed. After sinking eight consecutive free throws in the clutch to seal the victory against Cornell Thursday, freshman point guard Eric Bledsoe shot just 1-for-6 from the line Saturday. The team shot just 10-of-22 (45.5 percent) from the line in the second half after sinking 6-of-7 in the first.  

‘We’ve had games where we’ve missed free throws and three pointers, but on defense we also gave up a lot of layups,’ Cousins said. ‘And they just outplayed us. Simple stuff that we know better, and we just didn’t execute.’ 

Not since Michigan’s Fab Five have we seen a young group this talented. And with the season now in the books, Kentucky players will have some decisions to make. Including Wall and Cousins, as many as four players are expected to be selected the NBA’s draft lottery this June. That could mean this will likely be the last time we see this talented group in a Kentucky uniform. 

And in the locker room after the dream of winning a national championship had come to an end, Cousins couldn’t help but sit and wonder what could have been with this talented, but young Kentucky squad. 

‘I’ve never had this much fun in my life,’ Cousins said. ‘I just wish we could’ve ended on a good note.’ 
 

aljohn@syr.edu

Published on March 27, 2010 at 12:00 pm