Can Kentucky men's basketball reclaim its mojo after recent slide?

Less than two weeks ago, Kentucky was 15-3, having won eight of its past nine games and slotting in as the sixth-ranked team in the country. Since then, though, things have changed. 

It’s been a stark flip in mojo for head coach John Calipari and the Wildcats. Kentucky has lost three of its past four contests, two at Rupp Arena last week to Florida (94-91) and Tennessee (103-92). 

Now, the Wildcats have slid all the way down to a No. 6 seed in CBS Sports’ latest bracketology breakdown and are ranked 27th by KenPom.

What happened? 

Based on the data, the answer appears simple. In its three most recent losses (to Tennessee on Saturday, Florida on Thursday and to South Carolina on Jan. 23), Kentucky allowed an average of 92 points per game. 

The Gamecocks, Gators and Volunteers shot a combined 45.8% from the field, which, if over the entire season to date, would rank last in the SEC by two full percentage points.

Against Tennessee, the Wildcats were especially porous on defense. Despite stellar transfer Dalton Knecht having an off night (5-of-14 from the field, 1-of-5 from three), the Volunteers excelled from the perimeter, off the bounce and in the paint. Kentucky simply had no answers. 

“We are going to have to be a collective defensive team, and I keep saying it,” Calipari told reporters Saturday. “If one guy stops playing, it’s going to hurt this group. But when we do it together, we can hold our own.”

So Calipari’s job is simple: Fix the defense, and his team’s slide will end, right? Not exactly. After all, defensive woes are not a new issue for the Wildcats. 

Kentucky is 102nd nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom, having given up 89 to Kansas, 88 to Saint Joseph’s, 80 to UNC Wilmington, 83 to North Carolina, 85 in their first meeting with Florida, 97 to Texas A&M and 96 to Georgia. 

The Wildcats’ record in those seven games was 4-3, proving that oftentimes, their backcourt arsenal of Antonio Reeves, Rob Dillingham, Reed Sheppard and D.J. Wagner (who missed both of last week’s games with an ankle injury) is potent enough to win with their ability to simply put the ball in the basket. 

This recent slide, then, isn’t due to new issues. Instead, it’s a reminder that eventually, a consistent inability to get stops will burn you no matter how many five-star studs you have. 

“We gotta be more physical,” Sheppard told reporters Saturday. “We can’t let them hit us and get pushed under the basket, we gotta hit them and get them out of the way.”

One thing the Wildcats have in their favor is more than a month still remains in the regular season. 

Kentucky is three games back of Alabama for first in the SEC, with South Carolina, Auburn and Tennessee ahead of the Wildcats, who are tied with Ole Miss and Florida at 5-4 in league play. But chances remains remain for Kentucky to claw back into the race for the regular-season crown. 

The Wildcats face lowly Vanderbilt on the road Tuesday before a one-off nonconference game at Rupp against Gonzaga on Saturday. 

Then, it’s back to SEC play, with matchups at Auburn (Feb. 17), against Alabama (Feb. 24) and at Tennessee (March 9). If Kentucky gets Wagner back soon, those games offer a chance for a full-strength Wildcat bunch to turn it around.

Will an improved defense be a part of that? Only time will tell.