Miss layups and 3-pointers, get beat

The numbers behind Kentucky‘s loss to Ohio State in Madison Square Garden are ugly. Mark Pope even acknowledged the discrepancies in his postgame comments from New York, saying, “They beat us in pretty much every facet of the game.”

One positive: free throw shooting finally improved, led by Otega Oweh‘s perfect 13-for-13 at the line. The Wildcats answered the bell there, hitting 27 of 32 foul shots. But beyond the free ones, UK shot horribly against the Buckeyes. Kentucky’s 29.8 field-goal percentage was its lowest of the season and the first time under 30 percent for a game.

[BOX SCORE: Kentucky goes ice cold in Madison Square Garden]

Ohio State’s defense forced Kentucky into poor shot selection. Mark Pope told Tom Leach another part of the problem was the Buckeyes were hitting from everywhere–Ohio State shot 56.6 percent–and the Wildcats were overeager to respond.

“We probably had 6,7, 8 possessions in the second half, where we’re kind of dribbling in traffic and jumped off one foot trying to make a play,” said Pope, “and it’s not just the cost of taking those difficult shots, it’s all the ones you don’t get that actually buy you rhythm, that force the defense to play.

“It doesn’t come from a bad place in guys’ hearts. It comes from this over-eagerness to go fix it and this lack of trust in doing what we do and extending the possession.”

Pope took the blame for poorly “managing energy,” as he put it. “Like, yes, the defensive end is a struggle, so we got to execute more together with more pace and more determination on the offensive side.”

7 of 23 on layups

Missing 70 percent of layups is no way to win a basketball game, no matter the opponent or how Pope managed or mismanaged his players’ energy. Kentucky beat itself around the rim, missing shot after shot from close range. Some were due to weak efforts; others just wouldn’t go in. The one that stuck out most was Jaxson Robinson’s second-half miss at the rim, which was an opportunity to cut back into the Buckeyes’ lead after Bruce Thornton’s 3-pointer stretched the dwindling deficit back out to nine points. Robinson cut to a wide-open lane, and Brandon Garrison threw him a well-placed pass from the top of the 3-point line, only for Robinson to pin the ball on the front of the rim with two hands for a miss from point-blank range. Ohio State would score five seconds later going the other way, a significant swing in the game. You have to make the layups, especially the uncontested ones.

4 of 22 on 3-pointers

It wasn’t just the close shots that wouldn’t go in. Once again, Kentucky shot poorly from 3, hitting only four 3-pointers on a 4-of-22 shooting night from outside. The cold shooting performance was easily the worst game of the season. Kentucky’s previous lows were seven 3-pointers in a game (three times) and a season-low 25.9 percent shooting at Clemson.

The Wildcats set new lows in New York with four 3s on 18.2 percent shooting versus Ohio State. It is nearly impossible for this team to win a game shooting that poorly from 3.

Kentucky’s 3-point shooting percentage by game

Wright State: 45.8% (11-24)
Bucknell: 36.1% (13-36)
Duke: 40.0% (10-25)
Lipscomb: 48.0% (12-25)
Jackson State: 43.6% (17-39)
Western Kentucky: 27.6% (8-29)
Georgia State: 26.9% (7-26)
Clemson: 25.9% (7-27)
Gonzaga: 28.0% (7-25)
Colgate: 32.3% (10-31)
Louisville: 32.3% (11-21)
Ohio State: 18.2% (4-22)