TicketsAlthough at times Cincinnati showed flashes of life in a 68-57 loss to Kentucky, the Bearcats had trouble controlling the ball against the Wildcats' highly aggressive style of play.
The Wildcats won this game on the defensive end. Whenever it seemed as if their offense was poised to take control, they let UC hang around, but then shut down most of what the Bearcats wanted to do on offense. Cincinnati played lifeless offense in the first half, and it seemed as if Kentucky had its hand on the ball or picked up a steal on nearly every possession.
The Bearcats committed a glaring 25 turnovers, 17 in the first half alone, and UK capitalized with 30 points off those turnovers. Kentucky, on the other hand, only turned the ball over 10 times.
Even faced with the high turnover differential, UC stayed in the game and built an 8-point lead midway through the second half. After some excellent halftime adjustments, the Bearcats were taking better care of the ball and capitalizing on their possessions.
But they couldn't hold the Wildcats off for long, and the turnovers plaguing the Bearcats all afternoon finally caught up with them.
When center Michelle Jones exited the game with her fourth foul at the 12:40 mark of the second half, Kentucky went on a devastating 11-0 run to take a 50-47 lead, and UC struggled to stop them the rest of the way.
"I think at that point we just started to play too fast," said point guard Shareese Ulis. "I think we were forcing shots instead of realizing that we were up and we were in control of the game."
UC knew going in that Kentucky wanted to play at a fast tempo, and it was up to the Bearcats to dictate a slower, controlled pace. For most of the game, they played at Kentucky's pace, even when they were up.
"We weren't cutting hard to the ball, we weren't getting open, and we were throwing bad passes," Ulis said.
As UC matures this season, they will need to learn how to keep control once they have a lead. Kentucky's aggressiveness and hard press only served to highlight UC's lack of disciplined play more than some of the less aggressive opponents UC has played so far this year.
Cincinnati has another tough test coming up on Sunday, when they head to the Cintas Center to take on the 9th-ranked Xavier Musketeers at 2 p.m. in the annual Crosstown Shootout.