KSR Today: What Kentucky Basketball Game?

Good morning, friends. Welcome to Kentucky Sports Radio, where we share Kentucky basketball, football, and recruiting news in the most ridiculous manner possible. Each day is an opportunity for a fresh start. Like Drew Franklin, why look back, when you can look forward?

There’s plenty to get excited about this weekend. My nephews are in town, and I get to attend my first Christmas party of the season. What a hoot. It’s going to be a wonderful time. That’s why it’s always important to look forward, and never backward.

***tapped on the shoulder***
*** turns around***

Oh no. No! NOOOOOOO!

I did it. I looked backward. What I saw was not just unseemly, it was one of the worst displays of basketball by the Kentucky Wildcats in decades. As much as Big Blue Nation may not want to look at this team at all, I guess it’s time to look it dead in the eye, because it doesn’t get much prettier moving forward.

Third Worst Kentucky Loss in the Shot Clock Era

The Greatest Tradition in College Basketball doesn’t always have the greatest teams. I watched Michael Porter and Devin Askew play point guard for Kentucky. Not great. As bad as things may have felt at times, last night in Nashville took it to a new extreme.

One game after a nearly 11-minute scoring drought, the Wildcats missed their first 10 shots against Gonzaga. Denzel Aberdeen made it a 19-5 game with 11:04 to play in the first half, but that wasn’t the bottom of the hole that Kentucky was digging for itself. The Cats only made nine two-point field goals. Graham Ike had 10 all by himself as Gonzaga poured it on in a 94-59 victory.

The 35-point loss is the worst since Billy Gillespie’s Cats lost by 45 to Vanderbilt in Nashville in 2008. Rick Pitino’s first team got run off the floor in a 55-point loss at Kansas. Only one other ranked Kentucky basketball team suffered a worse defeat, and that happened in 1950.

LOUD Nashville Boos and Sharp Criticism from Cousins

For years, boo-birds rarely filled the air in college atmospheres. After all, they’re just kids. Now, they’re paid professionals. There is no more room for grace and mercy, especially when you only score 20 points in a half. Karl Ravech went silent so fans at home could hear the volume of the boos as the team went to the halftime locker room.

Mark Pope said all of the boos were “incredibly well deserved.” The criticism didn’t just come from inside the arena. DeMarcus Cousins tweeted during the closing moments, “This UK team has no heart!” Jack Pilgrim asked Pope for a response: “As a former, I’m pissed at the coach too.”

Mark Pope responds to Demarcus Cousins' tweet. https://t.co/1oqSAwR8p8 pic.twitter.com/fo5uNjDlss
— KSR (@KSRonX) December 6, 2025

More from the Kentucky Loss to Gonzaga

Pope thought he assembled the Avengers — Now he’s realizing he overpaid for heartless mercenaries
Kentucky showed us something: They’re worse than we could’ve imagined
Searching for answers after another “unacceptable” loss
Norlander Rips Kentucky: “Most overpaid, overrated, and disappointing team in CBB”
KSR Postgame Show Podcast
Pope’s Postgame Presser with Chandler and Lowe
Stats that will make you angry
Mark Few: “I thought we were the toughest team tonight”
Recapping an abysmal Kentucky basketball performance

Our friend Steven Peake was ON ONE last night. The Rapid Reaction from Bridgestone Arena is a must-watch.

Got thoughts? Continue the conversation on KSBoard, the KSR Message Board.

Kentucky Volleyball to the Sweet 16

It wasn’t all bad on Friday night. Back in Lexington, the Kentucky volleyball team punched its ticket to the Sweet 16. The Wildcats got 57 combined kills from Eva Hudson and Brooklyn DeLeye to eliminate UCLA in four sets (30-28, 25-16, 28-30, 25-17). Kentucky was so close to a sweep, securing match point twice in the third set before falling in extra points.

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The Wildcats will host next weekend’s regional at Historic Memorial Coliseum. In the Sweet 16, they’ll take on Cal Poly, who scored a five-set upset over No. 4 seed USC. No. 3 seed Creighton will play No. 2 seed Arizona State in the other match. We’ll learn if the Cats open play on Thursday or Friday once the second round concludes.

HUGE Kentucky Football Recruiting Win

Will Stein had about 24 hours to sign his first recruiting class. Instead of a National Signing Day press conference, he held an introductory one. It didn’t stop the new Kentucky head coach from making a splash.

On Friday afternoon, Kenny Darby signed with the Wildcats. A Top-30 wide receiver in the class, the No. 188 overall player in America instantly became the highest-ranked player in Kentucky’s 2026 recruiting class. A Louisiana native, the former LSU commit is following Joey Sloan to Lexington. Kentucky’s new offensive coordinator is known for having recruiting chops, and he instantly proved it with a HUGE win on the trail.

Conference Championship Saturday

College football fans will not have a full slate of games, but there are a few high-profile matchups. These conference titles feel less significant in the 12-team CFP era. An Indiana loss will not disqualify them from the Playoffs. However, the stakes still feel high for the Hoosiers, a program that has never won a Big Ten Title. If you think Kirby Smart is gonna take it easy after losing nine of the last ten to Bama, I got some bad news for you.

More Kentucky High School State Championships

There are three new State Champions. Kentucky Country Day won its first state title in a thrilling 20-16 Class A Final victory over Raceland. Owensboro Catholic fell in the finals for the third-straight year in a 33-38 loss to LCA. In a battle of unbeaten teams in the Class 4A Final, Boyle County dispatched Franklin County 34-0, giving the Rebels their fifth title in six years.

We’ve got three more games on the slate today. If you’d rather not sit in the cold, every game will be streamed at KSBar and Grille.