BOX SCORE: Kentucky's offense hit a wall, but overall stats matched up with Clemson

Make that three straight games for Kentucky where the three-point jumper just wasn’t falling. After going 8-29 from deep against Western Kentucky and 7-26 against Georgia State, the Wildcats posted a season-low in three-point percentage with a 25.9 percent clip (7-27) on Tuesday night against Clemson.

But unlike the first two games, Kentucky couldn’t overcome the lack of outside shooting in a 70-66 loss — its first of the 2024-25 season.

In fact, Mark Pope‘s team couldn’t overcome the lack of shooting from anywhere on the floor. Kentucky finished with a 38.1 percent clip from the field, also a season-worst performance. An 11-18 mark from the free-throw line — again, another season-low — didn’t help, either. 66 total points (on 70 possessions) was the lowest output of the season by 11. UK shot a poor 11-24 on layups. Not a winning formula.

But Clemson didn’t shoot any better. The Tigers were worse from the field (36.9 percent) and only slightly better from distance (8-25).

Looking at the final box score, Kentucky and Clemson’s stats are actually quite similar. Both teams grabbed 29 defensive rebounds and 15 offensive rebounds for 44 total each. Second-chance points, points in the paint, and fastbreak points were either tied or within a few points of each other. There were 13 lead changes and four ties throughout the night.

That being said, this game was won in the first half with Clemson dominating through its physicality. The Tigers were outhustling Kentucky to everything in the opening 20 minutes. Just in the first half, Clemson led substantially in rebounds (31-21), offensive rebounds (13-7), and second-chance points (10-1). Ian Schieffelin couldn’t hit a shot all night (4-20 from the field) but grabbed a career-high 20 boards, 13 coming in the first half.

Otega Oweh led Kentucky with 17 points and seven rebounds. Lamont Butler was right behind him with 16 points (6-9 FG, 2-4 3PT) and five assists. Jaxson Robinson rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12 points on 5-13 shooting, including a 2-7 mark from deep. Amari Williams nearly had his third double-double of the season with nine points and 11 rebounds.

In total, 35 fouls were called, 20 of them going to Kentucky. The actual game lasted 2 hours and 25 minutes because of it. Foul trouble with Butler in the first half limited his impact. He ended up finishing with a team-high +17 but in just 19 minutes played. Williams was second in plus/minus at +16.

Kentucky’s bench cost them more than anything. Koby Brea, Kerr Kriisa, Brandon Garrison, and Ansley Almonor contributed a combined seven points on 3-13 shooting. Kriisa was a -21 in 21 minutes while Brea was a -15 in 17 minutes. Andrew Carr didn’t have a good night either. He finished with five points and five rebounds on 1-7 overall shooting.

This will be one to forget. Check out more box score stats below.