By David Schuh

UK isn’t going undefeated. It’s OK, Big Blue Nation. You really didn’t think they would anyway.

That doesn’t mean they aren’t just as good as you thought they were.

The Cats played a bad first half Tuesday against No. 2 Michigan State University. They turned it over, they missed too many free throws and they played maybe the worst team defense head coach John Calipari has ever had the displeasure of seeing.

They trailed by 12, without much of a clue about how to solve the Spartans’ explosive, yet methodical style.

They played like freshmen.

Then, all of a sudden, they didn’t.

A furious 13-1 run, highlighted by stout defense and the sheer, undeniable dominance of freshman forward Julius Randle, found the Cats in a tie game with 4:48 left.

The game teetered back and forth, as a heavyweight bout between two juggernauts should. UK trailed by two with under a minute to play, on the verge of completing a comeback uncharacteristic of their comparative age.

Then, they became freshmen again. Calipari chose not to foul, and an MSU miss led to a wide open tip-in by Spartan senior forward Branden Dawson with five seconds left that sealed their fate.

After a meaningless, last-second three-pointer went awry, Randle stood with his hands on his knees, unable to accept his first collegiate loss at such an early point in the season.

“You had guys crying in there, and that’s a good thing,” Calipari said of the postgame locker room. “I want it to hurt like that.”

The two halves were played by two very different UK teams, but the final score painted a very clear picture.

In the first half, they played like all freshmen are perceived to play. In the second half, they played like these freshmen are capable of playing.

They locked down on defense. They outrebounded maybe the most-disciplined team in the county 28-16 over the final 20 minutes.

Randle asserted himself in a way only he could. In 17 second-half minutes, he tallied 23 points and nine rebounds. He finished with 27 points and 13 rebounds, his third double-double in as many collegiate games.

And if Michigan State can’t stop him, who can?

But again, the Cats failed where young teams often do. They shot 53 percent from the free throw line and turned the ball over 17 times.

Is that inexperience? Maybe.

But they also took one of the most seasoned teams in college basketball to the brink after trailing by 13 midway through the second half.

They took their first taste of adversity and turned it on its head. They didn’t lie down, which is exactly what Calipari wanted to see.

A team this talented and this athletic, who shows they can flip the script on Michigan State on Nov. 12, has no limits come March.

UK will get much better, very quickly. And Randle showed he can carry his team in any environment, against any team.

And when they do improve, when they take what this four-point loss made them feel and turn it into motivation, don’t be surprised if Tuesday’s second half is the norm, night in and night out.

Randle’s mammoth performance ended with his hands on his knees. His night ended in tears.

But don’t get used to it. These Cats, and their superstar, have this feeling behind them.