+3 and -3 from MSU vs. UK,

+3

1. You get better by playing in these games. Whether that's better in the short-term or long-term, you get better by knowing what you have ASAP and start working on fixing it. I'll take this game over a 30 point win over South Carolina State every day of the week. My opinion of what this team can do during the season and in March changes ZERO PERCENT tonight.

2. I thought we really guarded. Held UK to 37% and under 70 points and that's with 25 made FT's. Even a couple UK makes were really tough shots. Love what we did in half-court defense. We keep guarding like that and it becomes our identity. Also outrebounded them.

3. Kithier and Ahrens outside those last two wide-open looks he missed were the only 2 players on the team that I thought had plus games.

-3

1. It's about making shots. 5/26 from "3" and no one is immune with Winston going 1/7. With all the horrendous officiating and first-half woes, MSU went 1/6 on uncontested 3's during a stretch from around 15:00-9:00. Missed wide open 3's by Henry, Tillman, Brown (also made one), and 2 by Winston when MSU had the momentum and a chance to take the lead. The 2nd one by Winston off a Hall offensive rebound would've cut it to one. Instead, Winston fouled Quickley on a "3" and UK went on a 9-0 run to push it to 13. LWith 3 and change left, Tillman had a similar uncontested "3" to cut it to one....a minute later then Ahrens. People questioned perimeter shooting coming in, which isn't a surprise since you graduated 2 of your best shooters in McQuaid/Goins and 2 of your other best are not playing in Hauser/Langford. We can project what Tillman/Watts/Kithier might be, but we don't have a lot of sample size/body of work to be sure. Why does making shots matter so much? Because we can't throw it into the post and easily score and we don't have a plethora of guys that can break you down and get to the rim. That's why making uncontested shots matters to this team more than others.

2. Your 3 best players have to play like your 3 best players. I get how high the bar is for Cash, but none of them played an above-average game, IMO. Sure, foul trouble played a role, but that's part of growing and improving, too. Lots of fingers at Watts, Bingham, Brown, etc, but I always will start with those 3.

3. The officiating in the first half. There is no reason to call 14 fouls in the first 8 minutes. It was a joke. Fans got ripped off and players who work so hard had meaningful minutes taken away due to the officials stealing the first half. That's what they did and it's impossible to convince me otherwise. There was a call in the first half on Watts when he was setting a partial diagonal screen, away from the ball, to a player not involved in the play, with no advantage gained. It is literally the definition of the meaningless call you can let go and the half was riddled with those on both sides.

4. Coach Cal won a coaching battle with ball-screen defense. You will probably hear other experts call it something else, but it was essentially a double. When both players stay with the dribbler until he passes, it's a double. We didn't go to an effective counter that either freed Winston or got great looks for others. When we tried to go pick and pop, their athleticism allowed them to scramble and recover. Our inability to counter that was a major story in the half-court game, IMO.

MISC

* Kyle Ahrens, if healthy and capable, needs to play more minutes. I don't care where they come from, but he makes the fewest mistakes.

* Maxsey was the best player on the floor tonight. Team with the best player on the floor often wins the game. He took over the game late and made all the winning plays.

* The "we aren't going to miss Langford much" crowd can go fly a kite. It leaves a gaping hole with wing shooting. The better Watts plays, the more we miss Langford. Means we missed him a whole lot tonight. It certainly seems like he could've maybe been the difference tonight.

* Some unfair basketball coaching karma late in the game. Calipari makes no play call and Maxsey fires it in from 30. Izzo calls a perfect roll/replace with a screen to get Ahrens an uncontested 3 and he misses. Ouch.

* Look, I see the potential of guys like Tillman and Henry, but each of them are stepping up another peg in role and expectations. I see why they are in mock drafts. I just think sometimes we assume things before they actually happen. Periods of consistent success with the two of them has not yet happened, so let's stop short of calling it a guarantee.