The depressing numbers behind Kentucky's loss to South Carolina

I don’t know what you watched tonight, but that was not the Kentucky Basketball team I know and love. The No. 6 Cats were a shadow of themselves tonight in Columbia, losing to an inspired South Carolina team 79-62. Kentucky is now 14-4 on the season, 4-2 in SEC play.

Coming into this game, Kentucky had failed to reach 80 points only once this season, putting up 73 in the loss to UNC Wilmington on Dec. 2. Tonight, they were nine points short of their previous low and 29.6 points below their season average (91.6), just one indicator of what a jarring performance this was. What a crash back to Earth after Saturday’s win over Georgia, in which the Cats posted 105 points, and Big Z was the story of college basketball.

We’ll be breaking down this game all night. Let’s start with the numbers, which tell a lot of the story.

25-62 (40.3%): Kentucky’s Field-Goal Percentage

Kentucky came into this game averaging 33 made baskets and 50.3% shooting. Tonight, they were well below that. Only three players made five baskets or more: Tre Mitchell (5-8), Antonio Reeves (6-18), and Rob Dillingham (7-14).

4-13 (30.8%): Kentucky’s 3-Point Percentage

Kentucky’s shooting woes were especially bad behind the arc. The Cats averaged 10 made threes per game before tonight. Today, they only made four. In the second half, Kentucky only attempted three three-pointers in the second half, making two. No Wildcat made more than one three.

11-24 (45.8%): South Carolina’s 3-Point Percentage

On the other end of the court, South Carolina couldn’t miss. The Gamecocks came into this game averaging 33% from three. Tonight, the bucket belonged to them, especially Jacobi Wright, a 22.7% three-point shooter coming in. He was 4-7 from behind the arc tonight. Making matters worse is the fact most of the threes South Carolina made weren’t even defended, which speaks volumes about Kentucky’s defense.

7 assists

Chief among Kentucky’s issues on offense: ball movement. The Cats only had seven assists tonight, well below their average of 18.9 per game. On the other end, South Carolina had 20 dimes. Kentucky also only had five steals, below its average of 8.2. Without steals, it’s hard to do anything in transition. Speaking of…

7 fastbreak points

South Carolina is one of the slowest teams in the country, ranking near the bottom in tempo. Tonight, the Gamecocks dictated the pace. For one reason or another, Kentucky could not break the game open in transition, notching only seven fastbreak points.

23: Points by Tre Mitchell and Antonio Reeves in the second half

Kentucky’s veterans tried to steady the ship after halftime, scoring all of Kentucky’s points until DJ Wagner finally hit a bucket at the 11-minute mark. Mitchell and Reeves finished with 23 of Kentucky’s 37 second-half points. Outside of the two vets, five Kentucky freshmen combined for 14 points in the second half. That does not a comeback make.

1: Player in the positive of Plus/Minus

Aaron Bradshaw (+4) was the only player on the positive side of the plus/minus efficiency ratings. Every other Wildcat was in the negative.

2-3: Kentucky’s record in Quad 1

South Carolina is No. 62 in the NET Rankings, meaning this game is in Quad 1 on Kentucky’s team sheet. It won’t do a ton of damage to the Cats’ NCAA Tournament resume, but it is a huge opportunity lost. Kentucky needs more Quad 1 wins to get a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They did not get one tonight.

There are more depressing numbers below, if you’re into that.