In our regular postgame feature, the Cats Illustrated staff offers its first impressions from Kentucky's 74-69 loss on Saturday afternoon at Vanderbilt. Each staff member will share his three main takeaways from the game...

JEFF DRUMMOND:

1. Turnovers told the story of this game. Kentucky had 17, Vanderbilt had 5. That's basically your ballgame. So many of UK's were unforced, including several down the stretch as the Cats sabotaged any last opportunity to win. It's been a trend of late with UK being underwater in assist-to-turnover ratio in two of its last five games and were only plus-3 against Texas A&M.

2. Lamont Butler looks like he's hurt and just trying to play through it. He's been bounced around like a pinball since league play began, and I think we're starting to see a compounding effect. Butler has committed six turnovers in two of his last three games, and the decision-making has not been as sharp as it was earlier in the season.

3. I think the turnover issue is fixable, but I'm not as confident about the defensive woes at this point in the season. It feels like an "Is What It Is" type of thing. After erasing a 14-point halftime deficit and taking a seven-point lead late in the second half, UK gave up two uncontested 3s to help Vandy get back in it. The Dores are not a big 3-point shooting team, but the Cats allowed them to go 12-for-33. It's only the second SEC game where Vandy has reached double digits in treys. There is no path to a deep run in March Madness with a team defense ranked in the 80s nationally.

JUSTIN ROWLAND:

1. Kentucky didn't come to play in the first half. Trent Noah did bring a lot of effort but collectively they didn't come out with the same energy we saw from Vanderbilt. That was a big reason for the 14-point deficit at halftime. But they also didn't look as quick as the Commodores. The hustle stats were ugly after 20 minutes.

2. They came out of the locker room with a much better mentality. We have seen this very veteran team adjust course mid-game to at least make things more competitive before. You expect a veteran team to have that ability to self-correct during the game.

3. In the big picture, 1-3 in their last four games away from Rupp isn't pretty. Especially with such a veteran team that beat Duke in Atlanta and the Zags in Seattle. Even more so with those losses coming to Ohio State, Georgia, and Vanderbilt.

TRAVIS GRAF:

1. Inexcusable lack of effort and ability to get 50/50 balls by Kentucky today. They got out-hustled from start to finish, and it was the second game in a row where the other team made winning plays down the stretch that Kentucky did not.

2. Mark Pope historically hasn’t been good in true road games, and he has yet to squash that notion this season at Kentucky. They’re going to have to steal a big road win or two in conference play to get where they should be seeding-wise for their top-15 wins.

3. Lamont Butler has to be playing banged up, and I’m interested to see what Pope says about that after the game. He played his worst game of the season today and didn’t elevate the team on either end when it mattered.