How bad are things at Kentucky? There are moments where it’s best to simply let the numbers do most of the talking. Friday night in Nashville, for example.
Gonzaga 94, Kentucky 59.
That’s pretty loud. But there was more. Much more.
Kentucky missed its first 10 shots and 31 of its first 37.
Gonzaga crushed the Wildcats 46-18 in the paint, meaning the Zags had only 13 fewer points in the paint than Kentucky scored everywhere.
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Graham Ike led the Zags with 28 points and had 11 field goals — the same number of baskets for Kentucky’s entire starting lineup. Ike had one point and missed all nine shots against Michigan the week before.
The Wildcats’ 26.7 shooting percentage was their lowest in nearly two decades.
Their longest streak of making shots Friday night was two. And that happened only twice.
Gonzaga led 19-2 before Kentucky’s first basket. It was 43-20 at halftime, and the Wildcats had three more turnovers than field goals.
The margin of massacre was the largest for Kentucky in nearly 18 years, third worst of the shot clock era.
The game was in Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, and that was the first bad sign for Kentucky. The Wildcats’ last game there was nine months ago in the SEC tournament. They lost to Alabama by 29 points.
It could have been even worse. Kentucky had a 20-13 advantage in free throws.
At least this score fit the Gonzaga motif for the season. Close-game drama? Who needs it? The Zags’ 8-1 record includes, in order going backward: Victory by 35 points over Kentucky, loss to Michigan by 40, wins by 39 over Maryland, 10 over Alabama — closest game of the year — 72 over Southern Utah, 12 over Arizona State, 27 over Creighton, 15 over Oklahoma and 55 over Texas Southern. Gonzaga has seen only four lead changes in the second half the entire season, all in the Alabama game.
Kentucky is now 5-4, and that won’t do at all in Big Blue Nation. Especially the 0-4 record against ranked opponents, which has included several bashings. The Wildcats trailed Gonzaga by 37 points, Michigan State by 24, Louisville by 20.
Nor did the ugly offense start against the Zags. Kentucky was 1 for 13 in 3-pointers in the 67-64 loss to North Carolina. The Wildcats missed 13 consecutive shots of all types in the second half. They had a 2-for-15 shooting slump against Louisville and 2-for-18 against Michigan State.
They were outrebounded 43-31 by Gonzaga, 41-30 by North Carolina and 42-28 by Michigan State.
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The combined record of the five teams Kentucky has defeated is 14-27. Of those five, the opponent with the highest current KenPom rating is Valparaiso, at No. 196.
The Nashville crowd was heavily pro-Kentucky Friday night, so it’s not hard to imagine the unhappy sounds pouring down. “All the boos we heard tonight were incredibly well-deserved, mostly for me,” coach Mark Pope told the media afterward. “And we have to fix it.”
He used the word “paralyzed” to describe his team’s offense. Which evoked the memory of his words after the thumping by Michigan State in the Champions Classic. “We’re disappointed and discouraged and completely discombobulated right now.”
Kentucky has had ongoing foul luck with injuries — vaunted transfer Jayden Quaintance still out after knee surgery, starting forward Mouhamed Dioubate missing with an ankle issue, point guard Jaland Lowe just getting back from a shoulder problem — and is yet to present its full roster. But still. The Wildcats began the season at No. 9 in the AP rankings, had retreated to 18th by last week and almost certainly will be entirely gone from the poll next week. Unranked is not a place Kentucky likes to be.
“We’re in a bad spot right now,” Pope said, “and I know these guys will dig our way out of it.”
The shoveling won’t be easy. Three of the next five games are against Indiana, St. John’s and Alabama.
