COLUMN: Is it time to hit the panic button on this Kentucky basketball team?

The Kentucky Wildcats just got blown out by the South Carolina Gamecocks in Columbia 79-62. Today, we will have a discussion on whether or not it's time to hit the panic button on this Kentucky team.

To me, the answer to that debate is yes and no. We knew heading into the matchup with South Carolina that the defense wasn't great. The thought was, well, if Kentucky scores 90 points a game, even with a poor defense, the Wildcats will win games scoring that many points. The pushback to that is if the defense doesn't get better and Kentucky has a bad offensive night, they will lose. That is what happened against South Carolina. The goal of this column isn't to be negative. The goal is to push home the point that the defense has to get better and fast.

I had talked myself into this thought of, "Well, if the defense doesn't get any better, but Kentucky keeps scoring, they will be fine." I no longer believe that to be true. Kentucky has to win six games in a row in March to bring home hardware, and playing this style of basketball would make that nearly an impossible feat.

We have officially learned there is no more walking around the argument. If Kentucky's defense doesn't get better, they will head home early in March.

It would be a shame for arguably John Calipari's best offense to be wasted by a horrendous defense, but unless something changes, that could be the unfortunate reality of this 2023-24 Kentucky team.

We now learned why you have to be a solid team defensively and offensively on KenPom to win a National Championship. If you rely simply on scoring, it's just not possible to make a run. You have to have a good enough defense that if the shots aren't falling, you can stay in the game until they do.

Kentucky keeps getting lost on ball screens, trying to help down low, leading to wide-open threes, and giving up wide-open layups off inbound plays. Also, Kentucky's ability to guard one-on-one has also been a struggle.

These are the issues. Kentucky's offense is the best in college hoops, and with the defense getting better, they can win a National Championship, but the defense will need to get better and fast for that to happen.

I still have belief that this team can get better and make a run in March, but they can't rely on scoring 90 points to mask an awful defense. They have to fix the issues.

Kentucky will hit the road to play in another challenging environment against Arkansas. The Razorbacks have had a rough season, but Kentucky will need to shoot the ball well to win, as Bud Walton will be loud with the Wildcats in town.