An unfortunate pattern has emerged this season for Kentucky basketball, and it reared its head again against Ohio State at the CBS Classic on Saturday. Teams that play a physical style of defense, like Clemson did, bother the Wildcats, knocking them off their game.
From start to finish, the Buckeyes refused to back down against Kentucky, and used their physicality, especially against the guards. It resulted in another poor shooting night for Kentucky, and they fell 85 – 65.
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As a team, Kentucky shot just 29% from the field and a woeful 18% from three-point range. Ohio State, meanwhile, made 56% of their shots overall, and 26% from deep.
The Cats were led by Otega Oweh, who had 21 points, but 13 of those points came at the free throw line. Andrew Carr had 12, and Jaxson Robinson had 11. Nobody else scored in double figures.
It was Kentucky’s worst performance of the season in every phase of the game. They will play Brown on December 31st, then begin SEC play. They’d better figure out how to avoid nights like this against a loaded conference this season.