Kentucky Went 0-13 From Three in Absymal Second Half Shooting Performance vs. Georgetown

You can point to a lot of different reasons why Kentucky was dismantled by Georgetown on Thursday night. Kentucky head coach Mark Pope pointed towards Georgetown’s physicality and toughness as one reason.

However, many of those watching will point towards Kentucky’s abysmal shooting performance as a reason for the loss, especially in the second half. It was an all-around poor shooting night from the Cats, but the three-point shooting was a key piece of that.

After going 7-for-17 from three-point range in the first half, everything fell apart in the second. Kentucky went 0-for-13 from three-point range in the second half, failing to convert once from beyond the arc.

“Yeah like I said we were obviously not the best shooters, but I think the shots we were taking tonight were the best shots, tough shots from tough positions and that’s because we didn’t make the best plays for each other and we just had to take wild shots, and we missed, and they had better shots than us and that’s why they made it in, and that’s how this game goes,” forward Andrija Jelavic said. “The simpler you play, the better you look, and that’s it.”

Collin Chandler led the team with four attempts from three-point range in the second half, missing all of them. Meanwhile, Kam Williams went 0-for-3 from three in the second half, and Otega Oweh missed both of his three-point attempts in the second.

The second-half misses were even more remarkable when you consider the way Kentucky spread the wealth in the first half. Kentucky’s seven three-point makes in the first half came from seven different players, with Otega Oweh, Collin Chandler, Trent Noah, Brandon Garrison, Mo Dioubate, Jasper Johnson, and Malachi Moreno each hitting a three.

It Wasn’t Just Bad Three-Point Shooting

Kentucky didn’t just miss its shots from beyond the arc. The Cats weren’t hitting from anywhere on the floor on Thursday.

Let’s start by looking at overall field goal shooting. Kentucky went 20-for-60 from the field (33 percent) compared to Georgetown’s 55 percent. Then, there was the free-throw shooting.

The good news for the Cats? They got to the free-throw line 35 times on the night. The bad news: Kentucky was only able to hit 23 of those free throws for a 66 percent conversion rate.

Pope wants his teams to put up 35 three-point attempts a night. Kentucky nearly got there, going 7-for-30 from deep. Kentucky players responded to the poor shooting night.

“Coach Pope emphasizes the good shots that we should be looking for whenever we get the ball,” forward Mo Dioubate said. “And I think we just got to keep shooting and just be confident with it.”