John Clay: Solving shorthanded Kentucky basketball's problems is something easier said than done

John Clay, Lexington Herald-Leader on Feb 18, 2025

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AUSTIN, Texas — Reality hit Kentucky basketball on Saturday. You can say being shorthanded doesn’t matter. You say you can overcome it. You can say you have all the pieces you need to succeed. But sooner or later it all gets real. Sooner or later, you pay a price.

Kentucky paid the piper Saturday. For 37 minutes at Moody Coliseum, Mark Pope’s team had put itself in position to pull off a key SEC road win without the services of starting guards Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson. It’s a 40-minute game, however. In the final three minutes, all of Kentucky’s good work fell apart.

Attempting to snap a three-game losing streak, the host Texas Longhorns took advantage of Kentucky mistake after Kentucky mistake down the stretch to outscore the Cats 15-5 over the final 2:48 and secure an 82-78 victory.

“A little mess of problems” was the way Pope described his team’s stretch drive on the way to falling to 6-6 in this roller coaster of a conference season.

So what now? No one in the Cats’ camp appears optimistic Butler (shoulder) or Robinson (wrist) will be back on the court soon. And among the six games remaining on UK’s conference schedule, there sits Auburn (11-1 in league play), Alabama (10-2) and Missouri (8-4). After that, it’s March Madness that truly matters.

“We have the guys we need to win and we’ve got to figure out a way to do it,” Pope said.

Yes, without Robinson, Kentucky did beat Tennessee 75-64 at Rupp Arena last week. But Butler played until there was 8:40 left in that contest before reinjuring his shoulder. And with the backing of its home crowd, the Cats made 12 of their 24 shots from 3-point range against the Volunteers.

In its previous five games, Kentucky was 52-for-115 shooting from long distance for 45.2%. Deep in the heart of Texas, the Cats went 6 for 24 for 25%. Koby Brea was second in the SEC in 3-point shooting at 45.3%. He departed having missed all four of his attempts from downtown. Otega Oweh was 1 for 5 from deep. In Butler’s absence, Travis Perry started at point guard. He finished 2 for 5 on 3-pointers.

With little falling from outside, fortunately Amari Williams was a force inside. The 7-foot center scored 18 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished three assists. Unfortunately, Williams was just 5for 11 from the foul line. Three times he failed to complete and-one opportunities by missing free throws.

Then there was the season-long problem on the defensive end. The Cats had no answer for Texas freshman sensation Tre Johnson, the SEC’s leading scorer who finished with a game-high 32 points. Meanwhile, Houston and Arkansas transfer Tramon Mark made play after play in the final minutes on the way to 26 points.

So Kentucky is now 2-4 in SEC road games. It has experienced the highs of beating Mississippi State and Tennessee on the road. It has experienced the lows of losing at Georgia, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss and now Texas. Of those four, only Ole Miss has a winning record in league play.

“For me, I’ve got to find a way to help our guys be the way that we’ve been, which has been pretty good being really, really present in those moments,” Pope said Saturday. “I didn’t help our guys do that well enough tonight. Sometimes things don’t go your way, certainly late in games, especially on the road. But, we didn’t give ourselves a chance that we deserved to give ourselves with the effort that the guys put into the game.”

Here’s the problem: The Cats have been with the services of Butler and Robinson in a majority of those games. Both are skilled. Both are experienced. Both are the types of players that you would want in those final minutes at Texas, and in the home stretch of the season.

Pope said what he’s supposed to say. And he’s not wrong. It’s up to him to “find a way” as he put it. That won’t be easy, however. Not in the SEC. Not in the NCAA Tournament. Not shorthanded. Sooner or later, it all gets real.

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