Big Boo Madness: Gonzaga pounds lifeless Kentucky in Nashville
Kentucky may be facing its own season on the brink.
The No. 18 Wildcats lost their fourth straight game to a ranked opponent, getting hammered 94-59 by No. 11 Gonzaga on Friday night at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
It matched Kentucky’s third-worst defeat during the shot-clock era.
“Beyond unacceptable,” said a dejected UK head coach Mark Pope, whose team dropped to 5-4 on the season and has beaten no opponent ranked inside of Ken Pomeroy’s Top 150. “We have to find answers… There are zero universes where this is acceptable.”
The Cats turned in one of the more embarrassing offensive performances in the program’s storied history, making just five of their first 47 shots from the field. Spanning the end of the North Carolina game on Tuesday, UK went 7-of-63 (11.1%) from the field during a nightmarish stretch.
It took Kentucky 8:56 to make a bucket against a Gonzaga team that lost its previous game 101-61 to Michigan.
By the time Denzel Aberdeen’s corner 3-pointer dropped on UK’s 15th offensive possession, the game was nearly out of hand. The Bulldogs (8-1) led 19-5 and stretched their advantage to 43-20 at halftime.
Unable to defend either of Gonzaga’s two veteran big men, Graham Ike and Braden Huff, UK’s hole got deeper and deeper. The duo posted 28 and 20 points, respectively, on a night when the Bulldogs won points in the paint 46-18 and shot 57%
Ike, who has scored 79 points in three career matchups with UK, also pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds as part of Gonzaga’s 43-31 domination of the glass.
“It’s everything. It’s our mental approach, it’s our heart, it’s our competitive spirit, it’s our scheme, it’s our togetherness. There’s nothing that’s showing up right now,” Pope said.
“All of those boos tonight were incredibly well-deserved, mostly for me.”
Otega Oweh led Kentucky with 16 points. Collin Chandler (11) was the only other Cat in double-figures.
Kentucky finished the game at 27% from the field, and that was bolstered by making 11 of its last 13.
The game marked the return of Jaland Lowe after dealing with a shoulder injury, but he finished with one point and one assist in 14 minutes of play and went 0-for-5 from the field. UK remained without starting power forward Mo Dioubate (ankle) and starting center Jayden Quaintance (knee rehab).
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In our regular postgame feature, Cats Illustrated touches on some quick-hitters from the UK loss…
GAME BALL:
Graham Ike, Gonzaga — The 6-foot-9, 255-pound grad senior continued his dominance of the Cats. He now has two 28-point games and a 23-point effort in his career against Kentucky. His 10 two-point field goals in this game were more than the entire UK team recorded (9).
BY THE NUMBERS:
1st – Team to lose a game to a ranked opponent by 30 or more points and to win its next game against a ranked opponent by 30 or more points — Gonzaga.
3rd – Most lopsided loss for UK in the shot-clock era, trailing only the 55-point loss at Kansas in 1989, Rick Pitino’s first season, and a 41-point loss in 2008 at Vanderbilt under Billy Gillispie. It matched the 35-point loss to LSU in 1987, Eddie Sutton’s final season at UK.
4th – Time in the shot-clock era that Kentucky has trailed an opponent by 23 or more points at halftime. It was the second time under Mark Pope in two years.
7 of 63 – Shooting by Cats (11.1%) during a stretch spanning the end of the North Carolina game and start of the Gonzaga game.
20 – Points in the first half were the fewest by the Cats since scoring 18 in a 2018 game at Missouri.
QUOTABLE:
“You have to face the truth. If you’re not facing the truth, what are you doing?” — UK head coach Mark Pope on fan backlash and the boos they heard on Friday in Nashville.
UP NEXT:
Kentucky returns to action on Tuesday at Rupp Arena against NC Central. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.