3 players most to blame for Kentucky basketball bowing out in March Madness

You can’t point the finger at Oscar Tshiebwe for Kentucky basketball’s early exit from March Madness, but there’s plenty of blame to go around.

Oscar Tshiebwe did everything humanly possible to help the Kentucky basketball team advance to the Sweet 16, but in the end the Kansas State Wildcats were victorious over Coach John Calipari and the University of Kentucky.

The game looked to be within reach, but a late surge by KSU put Kentucky out of the NCAA Tournament. This is the fourth straight season that Coach Cal and the Wildcats have failed to make it to the Regional Semifinal.

Big Blue Nation is starting to get restless. The UK fanbase expects nothing less than Final Four appearances and national championships. There were moments in the game when it looked as though Kentucky was going to pull away, but these three players played a significant role in the Wildcats 75-69 loss to Kansas State.

3 players most to blame for Kentucky basketball’s loss in March Madness.

Antonio Reeves

A big finger will pointed at Kentucky guard Antonio Reeves. The transfer from Illinois State had been UK’s best three-point threat for most of the season, but came up short on Sunday afternoon.

And by short, I mean way short. The Wildcats were 4-of-20 from beyond the arc. Reeves was 1-of-10 from three-point land and 1-of-15 from the field. At some point, if the outside shot isn’t falling, take it to the rack.

Jacob Toppin

I hate to throw blame at Jacob Toppin, because the young man had been playing terrific of late. But Toppin got into foul trouble early and his contributions were lacking.

Toppin is always going to give you 100-percent effort on the defensive side of the ball, but the senior forward was 1-of-7 from the field and fouled out with just two points.

CJ Fredrick

Finally, you have to look at CJ Fredrick. The transfer from Iowa, who’d been injured in recent weeks, played 20 minutes but only came up with three points on 1-of-3 shooting.

Fredrick was the only other Kentucky basketball player outside of Antonio Reeves capable of consistently knocking down outside jumpers. While the injury may have contributed to his lack of production, if he’s on the floor to be a scorer, he needs to shoot the basketball.

Kentucky outrebounded Kansas State by nearly 20, but the 16 turnovers were the Wildcats undoing. Oscar Tshiebwe and Cason Wallace were each responsible for five miscues, but it’s hard to pick on the two players who scored 46 of UK’s 69 points and grabbed 27 of the Cats 41 boards.