By Les Johns | @KernelJohns

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Nearly two hours before tip-off, UK freshman forward Nerlens Noel was on the Rupp Arena floor working on free-throw shooting and low-post moves.

Several hours later, Noel was the final Cat to speak with the media about the discouraging 64-55 loss to Baylor that ended the Cats’ 55-game home-court win streak.

Noel, the one player that head coach John Calipari has consistently applauded for hustle and effort, was literally the first Cat to clock in and the final Cat to clock out.

“I feel like I could have played harder, especially early on,” Noel said about his energy level.

Statistically, it would be hard to quantify what Noel playing harder would look like. He led the Cats with 16 rebounds, six steals and an undetermined number of floor-burns.

Noel also led the Cats against a lengthy, athletic Baylor squad that had a season-to-date plus eight rebound margin per-game, and outrebounded them 48-37.

However, that effort still wasn’t enough.

“We needed a competitive spirit and we needed more of a will to win,” Calipari said. “We are still trying to find it. Nerlens blocks the ball, I think it’s a three-point game and we just don’t get the rebound. We have a man standing right there and he doesn’t have that will to win to go grab that ball, because we have to have that ball to win the game.”

Despite competing at a much higher level than Thursday against Notre Dame, and despite winning the battle of the boards by 11 against an excellent rebounding team, the Cats still fell short Saturday from a hustle standpoint, according to Calipari.

“The competitiveness, the energy, the will to fight through — that’s got to come from my team, and we have to try to bring that out of them,” Calipari said.

Hustle and energy played an even larger role in the loss for the Cats Saturday, as they found themselves missing baskets in every conceivable fashion. They missed to the right, to the left and off the front of the rim. They were rim-stuffed on dunks, saw balls halfway down the cylinder and pop out and had multiple balls circle around the circumference of the basket before rolling off.

The culmination of calamities led to dreadful shooting statistics — the Cats shot 21-of-71 for 29.6 percent from the field, 4-of-22 for 18.2 percent behind the arc and 9-of-18 for 50 percent from the free-throw line.

“I think that the shots we shot are all shots that we normally make,” freshman guard Archie Goodwin said. “It was just a matter of them not going in. A lot of them rimmed in and out and were close to dropping, but just didn’t drop for us today.”

Without the shots falling, Calipari believes the team could have made up the difference with better effort and will to win.

Meanwhile, the player Calipari usually applauds for his effort — the guy that came in to the office early and left late — mirrored the rest of the team in struggling from the field, connecting on just 3-of-14.

Noel spent several minutes dejectedly trying to explain to the media what has gone wrong with the Cats this week, questioning his own effort despite leading the team in rebounds and throwing his body on the floor repeatedly.

After he finished with the media, he walked with his head down and moved toward the UK locker room. There, an older couple was making their way to the elevator in the press area.

The man, wheelchair-bound and carrying a UK basketball, called, “Nerlens, Nerlens.”

Noel looked over and approached the couple, and signed his basketball.

As the lady snapped the picture of the two men, Noel cast aside the troubles of the day and smiled for the picture.

I’m betting the other man smiled the rest of the day.