Nate Sestina hit back-to-back threes to extend Kentucky’s lead to 15 points with 5:15 remaining, thrusting the final dagger through LSU’s heart on Tuesday night inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
From the sideline, head coach Will Wade was as visibly upset as we’ve ever seen him, stomping his feet and flailing his arms in utter distress. He’d seen this script unfold too many times before, and he’d finally had enough.
For LSU, it was the same mistakes that came back to bite them.
Wade said postgame, “We just keep making the same mistakes. The same guy keeps making the same mistake, over and over and over again.” “The same thing happened at Alabama, the same thing happened in this game. Hopefully [the mistakes] will be improved. If not, we’ll be playing home games in the NIT.”
Sitting at 18-8 overall with a NET ranking of 29, that is certainly a bold statement, but Wade doubled down moments later when asked about his options given the same guys are making the same mistakes.
“We don’t have any options,” Wade said. “If I had options I’d be playing other guys. Those guys have to get it fixed. I’ve exhausted all options.”
Sestina’s devastating array of sharpshooting late was a microcosm of everything that’s led to LSU’s defeat. The Tigers have now dropped four of their last five games dating back to Feb. 5.
Specifically, it’s been the three-point defense. In the first half, Kentucky went a modest two-for-10 from behind-the-arc, but in the second half, they became unconscious,making seven of eight from deep, most of which were uncontested with clean looks.
“They got a lot of threes off,” said senior guard Skylar Mays. “Our three-point defense hasn’t been great. If we are going to be the team that we expect to be, we’ve got to
Neither team had the shooting touch in the first half, as the Tigers were just 31.3% and the Wildcats were slightly higher at 32% from the field in the first 20 minutes. Kentucky head coach John Calipari looked up at the scoreboard heading into halftime and knew his team was probably fortunate to take a lead into the break
“We were up one, and I’m whistling, dancing and skipping going into the locker room,” Calipari said after the game. “We can’t make a shot, and we’re still up one? In the second half, we made the shots, which is why we got up 14 or 15.”
The difference in the two halves were night-and-day. From the field, the Wildcats shot 74% in the second half, at one point connecting on seven-straight threes against LSU’s laboring defense.
“We left him wide open,” Wade said on how the team guarded Sestina. “He’s a good college player, so of course he’s going to make a wide open shot. He had a wide open corner three, a wide open pick-and-pop three. He’s a good player and is going to make plays when you give him those opportunities.”
The Tigers forged their usual late comeback, but the deficit proved too steep. A Marlon Taylor three with 1:30 left pulled LSU within five, but Kentucky answered each punch with one of their own.
Next, LSU travels to Columbia on Saturday for a 5 p.m. start against South Carolina. Sophomore forward Darius Days said the only way for these mistakes to get fixed is through the players themselves, and another road test in the SEC will provide them with a chance to make things right.
“I’m excited about Saturday,” Mays said. “I’m just ready to compete again with these guys. I’m proud of them. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to get results.”

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Aurianna Cordero

LSU coach Will Wade walks into the locker room after the Tigers' 79-76 loss to Kentucky on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020, in the PMAC.