UK Athletics Photo
A sea of boos flooded Bridgestone Arena on Friday night as the No. 18 Wildcats suffered a beatdown by the hands of the No. 11 Gonzaga Bulldogs, 94-59.
Despite the game being played at a “neutral site,” the crowd number largely favored UK.
However, it wound up working against the Wildcats as they were never in contention to beat their opponent.
It started with Kentucky’s abysmal start of going almost nine minutes to start the game without a made field goal, which put the Wildcats in a hole that they couldn’t dig out of.
Kentucky’s shooting percentage in the first half was 16 while their defense allowed Gonzaga to shoot 50 percent, leading to the Wildcats trailing by 23 points midway through the game.
Even though it may have seemed like Kentucky “battled back” a bit during the second half, Big Blue was still out-scored by 12 and shot 37 percent from the field while Gonzaga scored with ease on 65 percent shooting.
The 35-point loss is tied for the program’s third-worst in the shot clock era and – through just nine games – has fans wondering if there’s any light at the end of the tunnel.
On offense, the Wildcats are struggling to even attempt the amount of “quality” three-point shots Pope wants and they certainly aren’t making a good percentage.
They also don’t move the ball well, have much of a post presence or even drive the basketball effectively, all creating a void when it comes to open looks.
On defense, Kentucky is often out-matched in terms of size & athleticism and gives up a lot of easy points in the paint.
They just simply don’t do anything well at either end of the court and that’s been easy for fans to see when their team has been matched up against quality opponents.
Kentucky is winless against Associated Press Top-25 teams so far this season, losing by an average of 15 points per game to Louisville, Michigan State, North Carolina and now Gonzaga.
Pope and his team will quickly regroup before next Tuesday’s game against North Carolina Central.
Unfortunately for Kentucky, their cupcake games will mean nothing to fans until the Wildcats can prove they can knock off a worthy opponent.
Fans can look ahead to next Saturday’s game vs. No. 22 Indiana and then the following Saturday’s game against St. John’s for that opportunity.
In the meantime, they’ll hope and pray Pope can make the right adjustments to get his team back on track.
11 Responses
Well.. I was 6 rows off the court.. Awesome seats ..game sucked. Lowe is the only one who can penetrate. Its really really bad in person. Just passing the ball around the perimeter isnt going to get it done . Pope not calling timeouts when the other team is on a giant run is really perplexing.. we've got very little chance of breaking the defense down without lowe in and any chance of winning without him in is slim. Winning with him is slim enough. Ive never personally witnessed kentucky fans boo like that and start leaving the game here and there with 10 minutes left.. I'm not sure where this team goes from here.
Watching on TV, never heard the booing so loud either but I think that was about the lack of effort. What do you think Grant
Lots of NIL for nothing on offense and defense except embarrassing performances … how long will this travesty be allowed to continue ? Living out of state, I don’t get to see all the games but so far there has not been much to watch … hopefully some grit & toughness will come thru soon
Andy I hope it comes but starting to wonder if it will
Gonzaga was beat by 40 by Michigan and absolutely got everything they wanted on every spot on the floor..UK could not stop anything.. they just got worked over .
WTF is going on with this team? It's painfully obvious that Pope doesn't have a clue. Lowe's return didn't help. Dioubate might help the rebounding and defense, but he is a liability when he jacks up 3s. My source says JQ will not play for us this season and will go on to be a top 10 pick in the NBA draft. I hope he is wrong about this, and even if he is, JQ alone won't save this team.
Where is the team that thumped Purdue? We have absolutely no confidence in our shooting or in each other now; we are a team of heroes. I was the biggest Mark Pope fan, even before he was hired. What is going on with him? We thrash the No. 1 team in the country and have not beat a decent team since going 0-5. It keeps getting worse with each game. I don't know which is worse? Scoring only 59 points on 27% shooting with 21% shooting from the arc or giving up 94 points and getting out rebounded by 12.
This bunch doesn't deserve to wear the Kentucky uniform. There are a boldfaced embarrassment to the University, the country's winningest men's basketball program (but not for long), and BBN. Adolph Rupp is rolling over in his grave. Barnhart needs to bring in an exorcist; this team is possessed with futility. I know that Stein is our football coach, but I think this team would benefit from a hell week under his direction. Yes, we have had some injuries, but so have the other good teams. Our biggest problems are mental, and those are the hardest to resolve. The entire team, starting with the coaching staff, needs a serious checkup from the neck up. This team is close to being Billy Clyde Gilespie bad; you would think that they would have more pride than that. My guess is them being more concerned with NIL money and NBA draft stock has torpedoed this team. It is going to be a long season…when does football start again?
P.S. Coach Pope, we got rid of Billy Clyde after just one season. Don't think for a minute that we won't can your ass before this season is over and turn the team over to Mark Fox. Stop giving excuses to the media and start coaching this team! If they won't play your way, dismiss them from the team, bring Potter and Hawthorne back to the team and fill out the rest with some kids from the rec center! It's one thing to play a good game and lose to a better team, but what we are seeing from this team is 100% unacceptable. This is your AH HAH moment!
Barry, Billy Clyde actually got two years
You're right, but I think it makes the point just the same.
You mentioned Stein, and I agree, thats part of the problem with Pope's persona and mentality–we need Pope to be more like a Stein during practice and during games–Pope, u can still be the nice choir boy all the rest of your time when you're not with your team, but damn dude, buck up and MAN UP, COACH UP!!!! Get intense, get in these guys' faces, challenge them, threaten their PT, for Christ sakes, Pope played for THE MOST INTENSE COACH IN COLLEGE BBALL HISTORY, u would think some of that would have caught on—but this is part of the problem with Pope as the coach, y'all–he is just NOT LIKE THAT. That is clearly not who he is as a coach. He doesn't have the ability to turn a little of the "psychotic" that every good coach has, and NEEDS to have to be successful, ON during games and during practice. He isn't able to flip that switch on and off between "Nice Guy" and "a little bit of crazy as a coach"–its like he is afraid to do that, or doesn't believe in it–i guess it's just a matter of that's JUST NOT HIS PERSONALITY. I just don't think that's going to work–and as much as I hate to say it, I don't think Pope is going to work out here in the long-term. And this personality issue is one of the big factors why he lost to CAL last year in Rupp, which is UNFORGIVABLE, I'm sorry. That was his one big fail from last year. And as much as I would NEVER wish CAL back, that's a horrible coaching matchup for Pope, and it will be again this year–CAL has INTENSITY, and he has ATHLETES, and PHYSICALITY on his team. Thats why he was able to beat us last year, and its why they beat Pitino in the tournament too. And Pope is going to go down to both Pitino and CAL this year, because he is completely outmatched and outclassed when coaching against them, because of the LONG experience of both Pitino and CAL. I hate to see what all is coming, because I think the world of Mark Pope, but let's face it, if he had not been an ex-player here, KY would have never been seeking out the coach at BYU. If u look at that hire thru an objective, NON-BLUE lens, it's actually a BOMB hire, one of several for Barnhart in his 23 years here. And I'm afraid that what is going to play out this year and next year is going to end up reflecting that reality, unfortunately…..I very much hope I am wrong about that–and of course we are going to support Pope all the way for however long he is here–but I really fear this deal with him turning down a long, dark road going fwd. We are at a really bad place right now as it is–and that's why I'm afraid to see what comes next……
James you are 100% correct!
Most of this group of so-called players have ZERO interest in UK. They come from a variety of street ball cities and obviously some hate each other. I read an article by a sports writer who said there are some players who really hate each other.
IF THIS IS TRUE, then some players (1?, 2?, more?) need to be removed from the group and then there may be hope the rest of them will get the message and begins to play like a TEAM.
Unfortunately, Cosch Pope & his assistants did not properly & thoroughly vet the quality of some of these routine transfer portal guys. The “losers” who have infiltrated the locker room & completely disconnected the group need to be tossed out – NOW!
Some of this GROUP (not a team) are too selfish and too rooted in their selfish play to consider anything except shoot first.
The A:TO ratio, low FG%, pathetic % from 3 – all of these are just FUNDAMENTAL BB and most of the players NEVER learned or played using the basic fundamentals.
Have some 1 on 1 meetings with some players and see who they have a problem with. Find out who the root of dissension is and toss him out. Otherwise the seqson is OVER!