By David Schuh | Basketball Columnist

[email protected]

For the third time against a ranked opponent this season, the UK men’s basketball team was close. They made too many mistakes to deserve a chance, but they did just enough to be right there in the waning moments.

And again, they couldn’t get over the hump. It led to an 82-77 loss to the University of North Carolina, their third of the year.

Saturday was also the program’s eighth loss in nine games away from the friendly confines of Rupp Arena.

It takes something extra to win in hostile road environments. The Dean E. Smith Center was as electric a building as the young Cats will visit this season.

A capacity crowd all clad in white berated UK and head coach John Calipari from the opening tip.

And at first, the Cats didn’t seem fazed.

They held a seven-point lead midway through the first half, spurred on by suffocating half-court defense.

But they simply made too many mistakes to sustain any kind of consistent momentum. Trailing by three points at halftime, they regained the lead but for a few brief second-half moments, surrendering it again and again with turnovers and missed free throws.

It was those very statistics that stand out at the end of the day for UK. The Cats turned the ball over 17 times to UNC’s nine, and they missed 14 free throws, seven of which came from their point guard, freshman Andrew Harrison.

UK mired itself in isolation. Guards penetrated individually, attacking with little ball movement. UNC got to the rim frequently in the second half, scoring without resistance from any UK help defenders.

But you have to give the Tar Heels credit. They made more plays, got more stops and took care of the ball. And as the Cats solemnly strolled to the locker room when the buzzer sounded, they couldn’t help but blame their own consistently predictable mistakes for another late-game shortcoming.

“This is kind of like the Baylor game and, I’ll be honest with you, the Michigan State game,” Calipari said. “You had a chance to win this game, and you lose it all in that one span of three minutes.”

When you step back at look at UK’s season from a win/loss standpoint, you see mediocrity. They have beaten the bad opponents and lost to the quality ones.

UK has four ranked, non-conference teams on their schedule. They have lost to the first three. At what point do you learn how to win when you continually fall short when it matters most?

People often say that games in December mean little for a Calipari-coached team. They’re young. They need time. They’ll be there in March.

But the fruits of March don’t come if you don’t plant the seeds in December.

Unless they beat the University of Louisville in two weeks, UK will enter conference play with Boise State University as their best win.

Not a crowning achievement for a team hailed as a preseason title favorite.

These Cats still need to grow, but these games matter, both for their development and their tournament resume.

They must learn how to win as a team. Because if they don’t, they’ll continue to get just close enough to lose.