That's the excuse, elite level athletes? Do you even follow basketball? What it comes down to is UK got MAJOR home cooking in Rupp for this game. 46 FT attempts to 10. Had Illinois State shot even half of what UK did, at an 80% clip like they where, they have 18 more points and win by 5.
And just so you know, they were not a bad team and were not considered un-athletic.
From the NY Times:
"Out-hustled on both ends by the athletic Redbirds through 20 minutes while adjusting to playing without the injured starting point guard Tyler Ulis, the Wildcats (7-0) emerged from halftime more physical and used that energy to gain some breathing room."
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/01/sports/ncaabasketball/kentucky-defeats-illinois-state-after-sluggish-start.html?_r=0
And from your own sports writer:
"Illinois State is not a bad team and they played a helluva game. They took Maryland to the wire earlier in the year and have played a very tough early schedule. But Kentucky had chances to pull away early in the second half, but turnovers or lapses on defense allowed the Redbirds to stay in it."
http://www.aseaofblue.com/2015/11/30/9824276/kentucky-wildcats-basketball-what-we-learned-against-illinois-state
So there you have it, the Redbirds were not only "athletic", but UK got "physical" in the 2nd half and yet the Redbirds only shot 10 total freethrows in the game.
Own up, UK go the (significant) benefit in that game at home. So now you should go thank the refs.
If only their coach/fans whined and sent a video to the NCAA...but I guess maybe he's a class act and moved on from the (one-sided) loss.