Kentucky falls to Clemson, suffers first loss of Mark Pope era

Ben Roberts, Lexington Herald-Leader on Dec 4, 2024

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CLEMSON, S.C. — Kentucky is no longer perfect in the Mark Pope era.

The Wildcats suffered their first loss under their new basketball coach Tuesday night, a 70-66 defeat at the hands of Clemson in Littlejohn Coliseum, the first road game of the 2024-25 season.

Kentucky, which was ranked No. 23 in the preseason AP Top 25 poll, won its first seven games under Pope and had been elevated to No. 4 in the national rankings Monday afternoon. Clemson fans rushed the court after the game.

Otega Oweh led the Wildcats with 17 points, while Lamont Butler scored 16 and Jaxson Robinson had 12 points.

Chauncey Wiggins led Clemson with 12 points.

The Cats erased a seven-point halftime deficit within the first five minutes of the second half and took a 43-42 lead on Amari Williams’ turnaround jumper with 15:28 left. After that basket, neither team led by more than two points for a span of nearly seven minutes.

Then, Clemson slowly inched away.

The Tigers (8-1) built a 66-58 lead as the clock ticked under four minutes to play. Kentucky narrowed that deficit to 66-62 but missed its next four shots — all 3-pointers — with a chance to close Clemson’s lead further. Butler hit a 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left to cut the Tigers’ lead to 68-66.

Before that make, the Cats had missed their previous nine 3-point attempts.

There wasn’t much for the Wildcats to like about their first-half performance. UK shot just 10 for 32 from the field, 4 for 14 on 3-pointers and 6 for 11 on free throws. With Butler mired in foul trouble, the Cats had just three assists at the break — the ball not moving as crisply as it had in previous games — and, biggest of all, they were outrebounded 31-21 in the first half.

Clemson secured 13 offensive rebounds on 25 missed shots before halftime and outscored UK 10-1 in second-chance points before the break. The Tigers led 37-30 at halftime and went into the locker room on a 14-2 run over the final 5:29 of the period.

This was the second installment of the SEC/ACC Challenge, with UK going on the road for the first time in the made-for-ESPN series. The Cats defeated No. 8 Miami, 95-73, in Rupp Arena last season.

Kentucky was a 1.5-point favorite over the Tigers, who are projected to be an NCAA Tournament team this season and advanced to the Elite Eight in last season’s tournament.

Kentucky’s next game

The Wildcats have another big game up next — a trip to Seattle to play No. 7 Gonzaga in the Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday night. It’ll be another late one, too. The game is set for 10 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN2.

The Zags started the season with a 101-63 rout of then-No. 8 Baylor on opening night and have built a 7-1 record so far. Their only loss came to West Virginia in overtime last week. Gonzaga also has double-digit wins over Indiana and San Diego State so far this season.

Graham Ike leads five players on the team in double digits with 13.8 points per game so far this season, and former UK signee Nolan Hickman (11.5 ppg) is among the Zags’ top contributors.

This will be the third matchup in a six-game series between the two schools that runs through the 2027-28 season. Gonzaga has won the first two games, including an 89-85 victory in Rupp Arena last season.