Film Room Breakdown - North Carolina 67 Kentucky 64

There are some built-in excuses and caveats that would help explain Kentucky’s disappointing start to the 2025-2026 season. Starting point guard Jaland Lowe has only played in two games and hasn’t appeared since the loss to Louisville on November 11th. Versatile forward Mo Dioubate has missed the Wildcats’ last three games. Additionally, the wait for the debut of projected NBA lottery pick Jayden Quaintance continues. It is easy to question the roster construction when you haven’t yet seen the product at full strength yet. Furthermore, losses to three Top 16 teams doesn’t exactly equate to an all-hands-on-deck crisis. Big Blue Nation doesn’t want to hear any of that though. Kentucky Basketball isn’t in the business of excuses and caveats.

For about 25 minutes on Tuesday we were treated to an intense battle between two blue blood programs. Kentucky was making life difficult on superstar freshman Caleb Williams, Otega Oweh was playing his best game of the season, and the ‘Cats were leading more than they were trailing. However, a continued inability to defensive rebound and a field goal drought of over 10 minutes turned the contest into an ugly rock fight. Somehow, when Oweh ended the field goal drought, the Wildcats still had the lead. That wouldn’t last though as more offensive rebounds lead to more second chance points and the North Carolina Tar Heels escaped Rupp Arena with a 67-64 victory.

As always, we’ve been hard at work in the KSR Film Room breaking down Kentucky’s latest contest. No game played on December 2nd will ever be a must win, but Tuesday came as close as possible. Rupp Arena was rocking and Big Blue Nation was clamoring for a victory over a quality opponent. However, it slipped through the Wildcats’ grasp in the final moments. The ‘Cats are now 5-3 overall, 0-3 in Quad 1, with three of their next four games coming against Gonzaga, Indiana, and St. John’s. At some point the resume has to be built. Rebounding and a lack of shot-making doomed Kentucky against North Carolina. However, some potentially selfish play reared its ugly head as well. Improvements will need to come in a hurry or this season could get away from Coach Pope and company.

Second Chance Opportunities Carried North Carolina

Louisville and Michigan State both played at a really, really high level when they defeated Kentucky. That isn’t to say that the Wildcats didn’t play a hand in allowing those teams to play so well, but they each were excellent. However, Tuesday night wasn’t an instance of North Carolina simply outplaying Kentucky. The Tar Heels shot 40.6% from the field, 30.0% from three-point range, and 60.0% from the free throw line. Those aren’t your typical shooting splits from a winning team on the road. Collecting 20 offensive rebounds, 47.6% of their own misses, led to a 22-5 advantage in second chance points. That is where the Tar Heels won the game. The Wildcats worked so hard and did a great job on Caleb Wilson, and on UNC in general, but not ending possessions with a defensive rebound proved to be the back breaker.

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Kentucky did a great job of making life hard on North Carolina superstar freshman Caleb Williams. He still finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 assists, but it took him 19 shots to get there. However, as hard as the Wildcats worked to make him miss, they failed to come up with the defensive rebound far too often. This is what several of the Tar Heels’ second chances looked like. The ball would get tipped around, often multiple times, and eventual end up in their possession. If Kentucky could have just came up with a couple of these loose ball rebounds they would have won on Tuesday night.

Here is another clip showing the ball getting tipped multiple times before North Carolina eventually corrals it out on the perimeter. The Wildcats needed their guards to be a bit more active in terms of getting involved from the perimeter and securing some of these long rebounds. This second chance was especially devastating as Luka Bogavac knocked in a three-point play on a beautifully designed set.

Kentucky had opportunities to build some cushion on the scoreboard. However, they could never quite get over the hump. Here they lead by six points and do an excellent job, once again, of making Caleb Wilson miss. Henri Veesaar eventually came up with the offensive rebound though and Luka Bogavac connected on another three-point shot. Instead of the Wildcats having a chance to extend their lead to eight or nine, the Tar Heels cut their deficit in half from six to three.

North Carolina got two more second chance points on the possession following the previous clip. Jarin Stevenson is a 22.7% three-point shooter. Him taking this quick three is a massive win for Kentucky’s defense. However, there is no rebound and Henri Veesaar collects it for a dunk. What was once a six point lead in favor of the Wildcats was quickly cut to one thanks to a pair of second chance opportunities for the Tar Heels.

It will be very difficult to ever have a blocked shot in Rupp Arena like Anthony Davis’ block on John Henson. However, Andrija Jelavic’s block here on Caleb Wilson would have been remembered too if the ‘Cats had come up with the rebound. Jelavic’s block was nearly the perfect bow on what was an absolutely outstanding defensive performance. Instead North Carolina ended up with not one but two second chance opportunities. Just one or two additional defensive rebounds at any point of Tuesday night’s game could have flipped the scoreboard in Kentucky’s favor.

Scoring Drought Kept Kentucky From Pulling Away

It is hard to win basketball games when you don’t score a field goal for over 10 minutes. From Brandon Garrison’s three-point shot at 13:08 to Otega Oweh’s layup at 2:43 the ‘Cats did not score a single bucket. They were able to maintain their lead due to getting to the free throw line and playing light’s out defense, but their inability to make a shot left every opportunity to pull away on the table. However, it wasn’t a total disaster during that stretch. There were some wasted possessions, but Kentucky also simply missed some pretty good shots. We will dissect the good, the bad, and the ugly from the second half scoring drought that kept the ‘Cats from putting the Tar Heels away.

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Trent Noah transition three-point shots are good shots. There is zero problem with that attempt. However, the ‘Cats needed something better after the offensive rebound. Denzel Aberdeen tracked down the long rebound and immediately attacked the rim. There is a fine line between aggressiveness and recklessness. Aberdeen was stepping over the line a couple of times on Tuesday night. This clip is a perfect example of one of those times.

You don’t want to completely turn off Jasper Johnson’s aggressiveness. However, like we just mentioned with Aberdeen, there is a fine line between aggressiveness and recklessnesses. They both flirted with it against North Carolina. There will almost never be something good come of one player dribbling the ball 14 times, and passing it zero times, before taking a shot. It is like Johnson had made his mind up that it was his turn to shoot. A forced, leaning, non-paint two over a 7’0″ center is not what Kentucky needed amid a field goal drought.

Malachi Moreno was wide open off of this cross screen. Kentucky was in need of a bucket and Coach Pope dialed something up that should have led to a dunk or layup. Instead, the ball ended up out of bounds. It wasn’t the greatest pass by Otega Oweh, but as a big man you have to catch it when the ball hits your hands. Leaving two points on the board here could have been the difference in the game.

Kentucky had some success feeding the ball to Andrija Jelavic in the mid-post. North Carolina got more aggressive in the second half, as you can see in this clip, about trying to get the ball out of his hands. After the skip pass was swung to Collin Chandler the sophomore guard found himself completely wide open at the rim. However, he quite literally missed the hoop. It is hard to ask for more than a wide open layup. That is how you end up without a field goal for over 10 minutes.

Despite not scoring a field goal the ‘Cats still led by six points in this clip. They turned to another set play and got their best player going downhill to the rim. There may have been an opportunity to dump it off or lob it up to Malachi Moreno, but it is hard to fault Otega Oweh for attacking the rim. Caleb Wilson just made a great defensive play. If Kentucky scores here to go up eight they very well may have gone on to win the game.

Here is Kentucky yet another minute deeper into their field goal drought. Denzel Aberdeen was able to snake the ballscreen and get downhill to his right hand, but missed the hoop on his layup attempt. This certainly wasn’t as open as Collin Chandler’s look a few minutes prior, but it still is a bad miss for such a close shot. The Wildcats were getting to some decent looks during their drought, but obviously continued to fail to convert.

Poor Offensive Decision-Making

Denzel Aberdeen had four assists and just one turnover on Tuesday night against the North Carolina Tar Heels. To paint him as a major problem, given the other issues Kentucky had, would be unfair. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t still learn from the film room. There were, at least, three times on Tuesday that Trent Noah was open beyond the arc and UK failed to deliver him the ball. We will take a look at all three of those clips. If Noah is going to play he needs to get shots. His teammates need to understand that as well. When he is in the game getting him the ball, when he is open from three-point range, is one of the best things you can do offensively. Kentucky failed in that way against North Carolina.

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Denzel Aberdeen is more than capable of making this shot. He has done so several times this season. The point isn’t even to tell him that it is a bad shot or that he should never shoot it again. Instead, the point is to show him that other options were available. North Carolina had one guy guarding two. A kick out to Jasper Johnson would have either led to a three-point shot or an easy one-more pass to the corner for a Trent Noah three-point shot. Both would be higher percentage than a running floater from 10-feet.

Again, this isn’t about telling Andrija Jelavic to stop shooting three-point shots. However, when he has Trent Noah standing open in the corner next to him he needs to realize it and throw the one-more pass. Get the ball to your higher percentage shooter.

This clip features the most egregious miss of Trent Noah. Denzel Aberdeen is driving it directly at a wide open Noah on the right wing. However, instead of delivering the pass to a 47.1% three-point shooter he throws a behind the back pass to Brandon Garrison. Once again, this isn’t about saying don’t throw the ball to Brandon Garrison. The discussion is about percentages. Would you rather get an inside-out Trent Noah three or a contested Brandon Garrison hook shot? The answer seems pretty simple.