Kentucky will face another challenging frontcourt with Gonzaga's Braden Huff and Graham Ike

Kentucky men’s basketball better have a short memory. Just a few days after losing to No. 16 North Carolina 67-64 in Rupp Arena, the Wildcats return to action on Friday night (7:00 p.m. ET | ESPN2) for a neutral-site showdown with No. 11 Gonzaga in Nashville.

Mark Pope‘s program is now 0-3 against ranked opponents this season. The losses to Louisville and Michigan State were followed up by 46- and 42-point wins against Eastern Illinois and Loyola (MD), respectively. However, there will be no get-right game for Kentucky ahead of Gonzaga. The ‘Cats will get thrown right back into the fire against what might be the best team they’ve faced so far this season. Gonzaga ranks 5th in KenPom, boasting a top-15 offense and a top-10 defense.

“They’re good, they’re physical,” Pope said Thursday. “Back-to-back games, their leading scorers are their starting four and five. The only difference is their four and five are bigger and more skilled and more physical and play at an even higher pace. They’re really dangerous.”

Gonzaga is 7-1 so far this season. The Bulldogs have beaten five teams ranked among KenPom’s top 100, including Alabama (14th). Their lone loss came against Michigan — ranked No. 1 in KenPom — last week in what was the third game in three days during the Players Era Festival. The Wolverines won the game by 40 points. Pope isn’t reading too much into that result, though.

“You’re like, my gosh, Michigan, are they the Lakers or the Celtics?” Pope joked. “They’re good. And so is Gonzaga. It was an anomaly.”

When breaking down the Bulldogs during his press conference, Pope mentioned Gonzaga’s frontcourt a handful of times. In particular, he brought up 6-foot-10 junior Braden Huff and 6-foot-9 senior Graham Ike. Those two lead Gonzaga in scoring. Huff averages 15.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game on 62.8 percent shooting, while Ike averages 15 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per outing.

“They play incredibly fast, they’ll dominate you on the glass, they’ll kill you with paint points, just crush you in every different way,” Pope added. “They’ve got veteran, veteran bigs that can beat you on the short roll. Huff’s shooting 15-foot quicks off the short roll, it’s impossible to guard. And Ike is just, he’s just a load. They’re both a 1.25, 1.3 points per possession, and their derived offense in the post is just as good. Huff’s doing more damage off the short roll than he is the post.”

Kentucky hasn’t been great at defending ball screens so far this season. They’ll need to fix that quickly against Gonzaga. Malachi Moreno, Kam Williams, and Andrija Jelavić all did a good job of limiting North Carolina’s frontcourt stars earlier this week, but this challenge might be even tougher. They’ll also need a much better performance on the glass after UNC grabbed 12 more offensive rebounds than UK. Gonzaga is among the top offensive rebounding teams in the nation.

Bulldogs head coach Mark Few, who has been battling on the hardwood Pope since his BYU days, has guys in the backcourt who can set up those bigs, too. 6-foot-3 freshman Mario Saint-Supery (who Kentucky kicked the tires on in the offseason) is posting 8.6 points and a team-high 5.1 assists per game. 6-foot guard Braeden Smith manages 4.4 assists in just 16.8 minutes per contest. Tyon Grant-Foster is a big guard (and is also 25 years old) at 6-foot-7 who can do a little bit of everything.

“On the perimeter, they’ve got a couple of kids that get down in a stance and guard,” Pope said. “They’re a really talented team. They’re one of the top teams in the country. It’s gonna be an incredible challenge for us. We can’t wait.”

The vibes around Kentucky MBB are already bad, but a win on Friday would do wonders for helping change that. It will be anything but easy, though.

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