Kentucky outhustled and outplayed by energized Gonzaga, loses 88-72

Not even 60 seconds into Sunday’s game, it didn’t feel like Kentucky’s night. 40 minutes of game time later, there was never a doubt who the better team was.

The No. 2 Gonzaga Bulldogs outhustled, outplayed, and out-energized the sluggish Wildcats from the opening tip, beating Kentucky by a final score of 88-72 in Spokane, WA. Gonzaga was powered by All-American Drew Timme‘s 22 points and seven rebounds to go along with 20 points and 14 rebounds from Julian Strwather.

Oscar Tshiewbe was the lone source of consistent production for UK, finishing with 20 points and 15 rebounds while dealing with foul trouble throughout. Kentucky was outrebounded 39-29 and outscored 44-24 in the paint. The ‘Cats shot just 39.1 percent from the floor for the night compared to 56.4 percent for Gonzaga.

The first half saw an uninspiring and disengaged Kentucky team. Players were constantly beaten on defense and simply getting outhustled by the Bulldogs. UK turned the ball over four fewer times than Gonzaga in the opening 20 minutes but was outrebounded by 10. To make matters worse, the ‘Cats failed to hit a single three-pointer, going 0-10.

If it weren’t for Tshiebwe’s 14 points and seven first-half rebounds, the game would have looked even worse for UK. Kentucky shot just 25 percent from the floor, trailing 41-25 at the halftime break. There was little to no energy from the Wildcats’ bench and it was easy to spot against a Gonzaga squad that clearly came ready to play.

Out of the locker room, Gonzaga struck first to extend its lead to 18, but then the ‘Cats finally woke up for the first time all night. Over the next six minutes, Kentucky rattled off a 20-6 run that trimmed the Bulldogs’ lead down to just four.

However, Tshiebwe would pick up his fourth foul at the 12:48 mark, sending him to the bench for roughly three-and-a-half minutes. Over that span, the ‘Zags would push the lead back to double-digits before Tshiebwe was all but forced back into the action. It wasn’t until the under-four-minute media timeout that UK made it a single-digit game once again.

But Gonzaga shut the door right after, with the lead growing to as many as 19 points before settling on the final score of 88-72. Cason Wallace and Jacob Toppin added 14 and 16 points, respectively, while Antonio Reeves went for 10 points on just 4-13 shooting.