TRAVIS GRAF:

That was just an embarrassing all-systems failure from Kentucky. They got punched in the mouth and never responded with toughness. The offense regressed to more one one-on-one looks and players struggled to get open. South Carolina provided teams with the blueprint for March, which is be physical and slow down the game. Kentucky was never able to play their game as it was dictated entirely by the Gamecocks. The defense is still not good, and the offense finally laid an egg. Reed Sheppard has to find a way to be more than just a catch-and-shoot guy against SEC athletes, while Justin Edwards’ minutes seem really close to being squeezed as he provided very little in 20 minutes. This is one of those beatdowns where players and coaches have to look themselves in the mirror and question their toughness because there was an alarming lack of it tonight.

DAVID SISK:

In our prediction piece earlier today I said I was waiting to see if a defensive-minded team could slow the Kentucky offense down. I thought it would be tough, but I ended up on the wrong side of history. I didn’t think South Carolina would do it to the Cats. They punched UK in the mouth and made them like it. My one concern has been about the physicality. They didn’t have it on either side of the ball tonight. SC won the individual matchups and contested everything. Kentucky had several players who were no-shows against that style. Defensively it was more of the same. They gave up 48.3% shooting and 45.8% three-point shooting. My concern going forward is how they bang with tough units like Tennessee and Auburn, and even on the road against Mississippi State.

JEFF DRUMMOND:

As we discussed in the pregame, Columbia has often been a trouble spot for even the best John Calipari teams over the years. For whatever reason, the Cats never seem to go into Colonial Life Arena ready for the fight they're going to get from the Gamecocks. South Carolina played great. Gotta give those guys credit for executing a nice game plan and hitting some tough shots. But UK got pushed around on both ends of the floor, and the defense continues to border on embarrassing. During the key stretch of the game, South Carolina scored 22 points over a 6:57 span. That's just unacceptable. Kentucky's offense was probably due for an off-night, but I don't think anyone ever saw this team being held to 62 points, even on a bad night. The Cats should never finish with 13 attempts from the arc. One of the best shooting teams in UK history took a minus-21 from the arc tonight.

JUSTIN ROWLAND:

On the one hand, I typically don't read much at all into road conference losses in college basketball. South Carolina is a pretty good team and they played at a high level tonight. At the same time, some of the things that happened tonight reinforced some lingering concerns folks might have had about this Kentucky team. I have always assumed the defense is just going to improve, the only question is how much. But they gave up a lot of open looks tonight. They also didn't respond well to South Carolina playing very physically and contesting everything on defense. They looked young and didn't respond to the toughness challenge. Those are cliches, there's a lot more basketball stuff that many of you will pick up on yourselves, but I'm inclined to think this game is a reminder that while this team may be a contender, it's a team with real questions and potential pitfalls.