Kentucky had five days off in between its third and fourth games of this season. So it was reasonable to assume the Wildcats, after last week's historically bad loss to Evansville, would bounce back Monday, handle Utah Valley with no issues and look like a focused team worthy of the No. 1 ranking they earlier held.
That didn't happen, though.
Instead, Kentucky -- as a 25-point favorite, same as it was in that game with Evansville -- found itself in a one-possession contest with less than three minutes remaining before pulling away and winning 82-74 at Rupp Arena. So, yes, the result was a victory. But the Wildcats were, once again, undeniably shaky.
"I'm happy we won," said Kentucky coach John Calipari.
Big-picture, that's the right take. The most important thing that happened Monday is that Kentucky won and avoided another horrific home loss that would've severely damaged its resume. But, that said, the Wildcats clearly have issues -- most notably shooting. They missed 11 of the 12 3-pointers they attempted against Utah Valley and are now shooting just 21.3% from beyond the arc, which ranks 342nd nationally. Simply put, no goal will be reached unless UK, one way or another, makes jumpers at a much better rate.
Kentucky is No. 11 in Tuesday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. The Wildcats' next game is Friday against Mount St. Mary's.
Tuesday's Top 25 And 1
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Tre Jones scored a career-high 31 points in Friday's win over Georgia State. The Blue Devils grabbed 30 offensive rebounds in the victory. | -- | 35-4 |
| 2 |  | Xavier Tillman scored a career-high 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in Monday's 94-46 win over Charleston Southern. Next up for the Spartans is a game against Virginia Tech in the opening round of the Maui Invitational. Duke remains No. 1 for the seventh consecutive day. | -- | 30-7 |
| 3 |  | Jordan Nwora scored 17 points in 21 minutes in Sunday's 87-58 win over North Carolina Central. The Cardinals shot 66.7% from the field in the victory. | -- | 27-8 |
| 4 |  | Isaiah Moss scored 21 points to lead six Jayhawks in double-figures in Friday's win over Monmouth. The grad-transfer from Iowa made five of the six 3-pointers he attempted. | -- | 21-13 |
| 5 |  | Anthony Cowan finished with 11 points, seven assists and six rebounds in Saturday's 80-50 win over Oakland. The Terrapins are 3-0 for the sixth consecutive season. | -- | 27-9 |
| 6 |  | Cole Anthony scored 28 points in Friday's win over Gardner-Webb. He's now the first UNC freshman in history to score at least 20 points in each of his first three games. | -- | 23-14 |
| 7 |  | Jay Huff came off the bench and got 13 points and 6 rebounds in Saturday's 60-42 win over Columbia. Virginia is holding opponents to an average of 36.7 points per contest. | -- | 15-17 |
| 8 |  | Admon Gilder finished with 16 points and seven rebounds in Friday's win at Texas A&M. The 6-4 guard spent the previous three seasons playing for Texas A&M. | -- | 26-9 |
| 9 |  | Myles Powell scored 26 points in Sunday's 83-66 win at Saint Louis. The senior guard has scored at least 26 points in three of Seton Hall's four games. | -- | 7-25 |
| 10 |  | Kyle Young got a career-high 15 points in Monday's 86-51 win over Stetson. Eleven different Buckeyes scored in the blowout that OSU led 42-14 at the half. | -- | 17-15 |
| 11 |  | Ashton Hagans scored a career-high 26 points in Monday's 82-74 win over Utah Valley. The Wildcats were without Immanuel Quickley, who missed the game because of a chest injury. | -- | 24-12 |
| 12 |  | Jahmi'us Ramsey finished with 25 points in 22 minutes in Wedneday's win over Houston Baptist. The Red Raiders shot 59.7% from the field. | -- | 28-9 |
| 13 |  | Payton Pritchard scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Sunday's 67-47 win over UT Arlington. The Ducks' 4-0 record includes a win over Memphis. | -- | 25-10 |
| 14 |  | Lester Quinones finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday's 102-56 win over Alcorn State. James Wiseman, as expected, did not play while he awaits an NCAA ruling on his eligibility case. | -- | 29-6 |
| 15 |  | Austin Wiley finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds in Monday's 91-62 win over Colgate. Isaac Okoro became just the third Auburn freshman since 1991 to score in double-figures in each of his first five games. | -- | 32-6 |
| 16 |  | Mike'L Simms scored a team-high 13 points and was one of six VCU players in double-figures in Sunday's 93-65 win over Jacksonville State. The Rams are turning their opponents over an average of 21 times per game. | -- | 28-7 |
| 17 |  | Jordan Bowden scored 15 of his 18 points in the first half of Saturday's 75-62 win over Washington. The Vols led for the the final 37 minutes of the game. | -- | 30-8 |
| 18 |  | Zeke Nnaji scored 19 points and grabbed four rebounds in Sunday's 83-53 win over New Mexico State. The freshman forward is averaging 21.0 points and 6.0 rebounds through four games. | -- | 24-13 |
| 19 |  | The Wildcats made 14-of-31 3-point attempts in Saturday's 78-54 win over Ohio. Saddiq Bey scored 19 points and grabbed 5 rebounds. | -- | 21-15 |
| 20 |  | Sam Merrill made five 3-pointers and scored 21 points in Monday's win over UTSA. The Aggies' next game is Friday against fellow Top 25 And 1 team LSU. | -- | 26-8 |
| 21 |  | Darius Days finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds to record his first career double-double in Saturday's 75-65 win over Nichols. LSU won by double-digits despite trailing at the half. | -- | 14-18 |
| 22 |  | The Huskies only hit 5-of-18 3-point attempts in Saturday's 75-62 loss to Tennessee. Washington's bench only provided five points in defeat. | -- | 13-18 |
| 23 |  | Freddie Gillespie finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds in Friday's win over Texas State. The Bears started the second half of the victory on an 18-2 run. | -- | 20-15 |
| 24 |  | Courtney Ramey finished with 19 points and six rebounds in Tuesday's win over California Baptist. Andrew Jones added 11 points and five rebounds off the bench. | -- | 19-16 |
| 25 |  | The Musketeers scored the first 10 points and never trailed in Friday's win over Missouri State. Tyrique Jones finished with 15 points and six rebounds. | -- | 22-12 |
| 26 |  | Chris Vogt finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds in Thursday's 85-53 win over Alabama A&M. The Bearcats' lone loss is a single-digit loss at Ohio State. | -- | 19-16 |
