Kentucky got worked against Ohio State on Saturday night in an 85-65 loss. The crowd was mostly blue in a neutral setting at Madison Square Garden, but the energy from the fanbase did not carry over to the Wildcats’ play on the hardwood. Outside of the opening minutes, the Buckeyes essentially ran Kentucky off the floor the rest of the way.
It was, without a doubt, the ugliest game of the Mark Pope era thus far. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
“A ton of credit to Ohio State. They beat us in pretty much every facet of the game,” Pope said after Kentucky’s 20-point loss. “And they deserve a lot of credit. Congratulations to them.”
You could say it wasn’t Kentucky’s night, which would be true. The Wildcats couldn’t find any rhythm on offense. A 29.8 percent clip from the field with just 17 made field goals (both season-lows) is about as bad as it can get. UK missed 16 layups. There was a lid on the basket.
You could also say it was Ohio State’s night. The Buckeyes faltered in the face of adversity against every high-major team it had faced this season. That was not the case in MSG. They exposed UK’s defense to the tune of a 57 percent shooting mark. Bruce Thornton dropped 30 points. Nearly every Buckeye shot attempt was met with little to no resistance.
Was Kentucky just playing poorly? Or was Ohio State playing that well? Call it whatever you want; when you lose by 20 points, it’s usually a little bit (or in this case, a lot of bit) of both. Fans kept waiting for the second-half run we saw against Duke and Gonzaga. It just never came.
“There’s a lot of ways we can get a lot better,” Pope continued. “I felt like our guys were trying to find some juice, find some energy, find some fight. We just fell really short.”
It was an all-system failure for Kentucky. We’ve seen the Wildcats win these types of games multiple times already this season. We know they have it in them. Pope knows it too. That’s what makes this performance so… confusing. The upcoming 10-day break could do this team some good.
“We have the guys on this team to go win this game,” Pope said. “We just didn’t.”
