John Clay: Kentucky basketball has time to figure out what went wrong vs. Ohio State. But not too much time.

John Clay, Lexington Herald-Leader on Dec 23, 2024

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Big Blue Express was rolling. Kentucky basketball owned a 10-1 record. A No. 4 ranking in the AP Top 25. Enviable positions in both the KenPom and NET metrics. Universal praise for what new coach Mark Pope had accomplished. Then splat — New York happened.

Call it the Big Apple Bashing. The Cats delivered lumps of coal for your Christmas stocking, beaten 85-65 by the Ohio State Buckeyes in the CBS Sports Classic. Kentucky didn’t shoot well. Kentucky didn’t defend well. Kentucky was beaten badly by an Ohio State team that had been overwhelmed 91-58 against Auburn the Saturday before.“We were trying to find some juice, find some energy, find some fight,” Pope said afterward. “And we just fell really short.”

Here’s the good news: Kentucky doesn’t play another basketball game until Jan. 31. When the players return from a brief Christmas break, there will be plenty of practice time between now and when the Brown University Bears visit Rupp Arena on New Year’s Eve. Judging by Saturday, the Cats need the work.

Here’s the bad news: Their SEC opener is around the corner. Florida, currently 12-0, visits Rupp on Jan. 4. The Gators aren’t the league’s only unbeaten. Tennessee and Oklahoma are each 11-0. The SEC boasted five of last week’s top-10 AP teams, eight of the Top 25. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi included 13 SEC teams in his latest 68-team Bracketology edition.

This isn’t to say all the good Kentucky did the first two months was erased by one game. The Cats are still 10-2. They’ve beaten Duke and Gonzaga. They did drop from 11th to 26th in the KenPom efficiency rankings, from ninth to 17th in the NET rankings. They played one bad game. A really bad game.

So what’s atop the UK to-do list? Start with 3-point shooting. The Cats were 4 for 22 from beyond the arc Saturday. In games in which Kentucky has at least 20 attempts from 3-point range, the 18.2% was the worst since the 2021-22 Cats were 2 for 20 for 10% in a 69-62 loss to Tennessee in the SEC Tournament.

Saturday’s showing dropped Kentucky to 96th nationally in 3-point shooting at 35.5%. The 3-point shot is central to Pope’s offensive scheme, but over the last seven games, the Cats are 54 for 181 from 3-point range for 29.8%. And that includes an 11-for-21 showing from downtown in the 93-85 win over visiting Louisville on Dec. 14.

Lamont Butler made all six of his 3-point shots on the way to his 33-point performance against Louisville. Butler was 0 of 3 from long range Saturday. Koby Brea was 2 of 7 from deep on Saturday. He’s shooting 50.7% from 3-point range on the season (36 for 71), but is 16 for 44 (36.4%) over his last seven games. Jaxson Robinson was 2 for 7 from 3 on Saturday. He’s at 30.0% (24-for-80) from 3 on the year.

While the Cats were shooting poorly Saturday — a season-low 29.8% — they were being outscored 36-24 in the paint. The Buckeyes were 4-for-15 shooting from 3, but 26 for 38 from inside the arc. Ohio State continually beat UK defenders on the drive. Even when Pope switched to a 1-3-1 zone defense in the second half, Buckeyes buckets kept coming. Brian Thornton scored a career-high 30 points. Former UK forward Aaron Bradshaw scored 11. He was 5-for-5 shooting from inside the arc, 1 for 2 outside. Ohio State shot 56.6% from the floor.

As we all know, Pope has a veteran team. Experience leads to expertise. It has proven bounce-back ability. The Cats lost 70-66 at Clemson in the SEC/ACC Challenge on Dec. 3, trailed Gonzaga by 16 points at halftime of their next game, only to stage an epic rally for a 90-89 overtime win in Seattle. They rallied to beat Duke in November. They held off a pesky Louisville.

They’ll figure out what went wrong Saturday. Thanks to the Christmas break, there is time to figure it out. Not too much time, however. SEC play looms. Survival of the fittest. No letup. The 2025 challenges will be much tougher then the 2024 challenges.

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