By Nick Gray | Basketball beat writer

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UK’s longest one-game road trip in recent memory ended Saturday evening when the Cats’ flight touched down in Lexington, less than 24 hours after Baylor overcame a  nine-point UK lead in the second half to win.

A day before the UK’s first-ever meeting with Boise State University on Tuesday at Rupp Arena, head coach John Calipari reflected after practice on Tuesday on several factors that caused the Cats’ collapse.

One of those included playing time, as all five UK starters logged 33 or more minutes. The Cats bench recorded 21 minutes, the lowest amount all season by a wide margin.

Calipari explained the time crunch by saying he was caught up in the game and is planning to do differently in the future. He also said that players have been practicing well, but have not received playing time.

“You deserve more minutes and we’ll go from there,” Calipari said. “But that had nothing to do with (Baylor) out-rebounding us by 18.”

Rebounding did play a role in the final 13-minute run by the Bears, who grabbed five offensive rebounds in the final 2:43 to help seal the victory. Baylor sophomore forward Rico Gathers, who had 13 rebounds, questioned the toughness of the Cats after Friday’s game.

“All of those freshmen, it’s kind of like they were stunned or shocked,” Gathers said.

Cats freshman guard James Young, who had the only two UK field goals in the final 13 minutes and hit four three-point field goals on Friday, acknowledged the lack of passion from he and his teammates.

“We did not come out with as much fire as we should have,” Young said. “We were supposed to pick it up in the beginning of the game and we really let that go.”

Young and the UK backcourt will have their hands full with an explosive Boise State offense. The Broncos (8-0) are first in the country in scoring, producing 91.9 points per game.

The Broncos have four guards who score in double figures and are averaging more than eight three-point baskets on 40 percent shooting.

“Somebody is going to have to guard a guard who is not used to guarding a guard,” Calipari said.

Boise State defeated the University of Texas-Arlington by 29 points in its season-opener, the only common opponents among the Cats and the Broncos. UK also beat Texas-Arlington by 29.

Young said the Cats are gearing to avoid what transpired on Friday in Texas.

“We just didn’t play to our full potential,” Young said. “That’s what can happen if we don’t come to our full game.”