Tension mounts as Kentucky drops two straight

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    Any positive momentum the Kentucky Wildcats had following their impressive road win at Florida is now a distant memory. A blowout home loss to Alabama on Jan. 12 followed by a frustrating road defeat at Auburn on Jan. 16 now leaves the Wildcats at 4-8 and searching for answers.
    The 85-65 home loss to Alabama was quite noteworthy but for all the wrong reasons. The 20-point victory for the Crimson Tide marked the worst home loss for Kentucky since 1988 and the first win at Rupp Arena for Alabama in 15 years.
    “It was a butt-whupping, for sure,” said Pendleton County product Dontaie Allen to reporters following the loss. Allen scores eight points on 3-8 shooting and grabbed six rebounds.
    Earlier in the day, the program was hit with the unfortunate and shocking news that former walk-on Ben Jordan had passed away at just 22 years of age. Jordan, who was a standout baseball player for Kentucky, joined the basketball team during last season and was a popular figure among the coaching staff and the returning players who got to know him a year ago. He appeared in two games for the Wildcats last season.
    On Jan. 16, the team looked to bounce back against Auburn but unfortunately most of the issues that have hindered the club throughout the season came into play once again, including stagnant play on offense and questionable rotation moves by Coach Calipari.
    Both teams struggled mightily to begin the game as Kentucky started 4-16 from the field while Auburn was even more dismal at 1-16. Allen, who entered the contest less than two minutes into the first half, got Kentucky on the board with a slashing drive and one-handed jam, the first dunk of his career. He followed that up by draining a three-pointer on his way to scoring eight first half points. He, alongside  Jacob Toppin, gave the Wildcats the much-needed spark they needed to get going.
    In the second half, not only did the duo not start for Kentucky coming out of halftime, but it took Toppin four minutes and Allen over six minutes to return to the court. As a result, Kentucky once again struggled to create offense, and Auburn came alive to grab the lead and hold onto it for most of the remaining 20 minutes of play. Kentucky would mount a late flurry to make things interesting down the stretch but Auburn was able to pull out a 66-59 win. Allen finished with eight points and logged just 23 minutes (eight in the second half) which drew plenty of questions towards Calipari following the game.
  “At the end of the day, we were running stuff for Dontaie and he wouldn’t shoot the ball. That’s why I took him out the one time. We ran two things for him and he had shots and he wouldn’t take them. I’m like, ‘Look. you’re in there to make shots.’ That’s one thing. But look, Dontaie wasn’t the issue.”
    “I’m trying to coach to win every game but at the same time I’m not trying to take anyone’s heart away,” Calipari explained to reporters after the loss. It’s evident that his unwillingness to break away from the coaching/lineup adjustments during the first 12 games has been part of the struggles this season. And it’s created a firestorm of backlash from the Big Blue Nation faithful that have normally supported the coach through his first 11 seasons leading the program.
    Kentucky will look to turn things around beginning on Jan. 20 at Georgia and hosting LSU on Jan. 23.