Takeaways from Kentucky's blowout loss to South Carolina

The South Carolina fans stormed the court after blowing out the Kentucky Wildcats.

The Kentucky Wildcats hit the road to play the South Carolina Gamecocks in Columbia and got blown out. 

South Carolina won this game 79-62, leading to the Gamecock fans storming the court. A Kentucky team scoring 90+ points a game only scored 62 in this ball game, as South Carolina's defense was suffocating. Kentucky's struggles on the road in SEC play continued in this game. 

What can we take away from Kentucky's loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks? 

The Wildcats road struggles continued

© Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports

Kentucky has played three games on the road in SEC play and are 1-2 in those games after the loss to South Carolina. Kentucky went to Texas A&M and lost in overtime and narrowly outlasted Florida to win that one to open up conference play. If this Kentucky team can't start finding ways to win on the road, this could get ugly. The Cats have six more road games in SEC play, including trips to Auburn and Tennessee. Kentucky has another road game on Saturday, where they will face a struggling Arkansas team. If the road game issues aren't fixed, Kentucky could plummet down the NCAA Tournament seeding.

This defense was rough

© Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports

Kentucky has had defensive struggles all season long, but the offensive success has masked them. Kentucky struggled to score in this ball game as South Carolina played great defense, which showed off Kentucky's struggles on the defensive side of the floor. If Kentucky is scoring 90+ points a game, the poor defense isn't all that big of a deal, but if they struggle to score, as we saw in this game, they will lose. This game is an excellent example of why the defense has to be better. If it isn't, one bad offensive performance will send Kentucky home early in March. 

Kentucky got demolished in the three-point battle

© Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports

Kentucky has been an excellent three-point shooting team all season, but that was not the case against South Carolina. Kentucky only made four three-point baskets in this game, while South Carolina made 11. Some of these threes were circus shots, but a lot of them were wide-open threes. Division 1 basketball players will make threes when they are left wide open. If Kentucky doesn't start guarding the three-point line better, they will let a poor shooting team make a lot of wide-open deep looks. 

What's next? 

The Kentucky Wildcats will look to bounce back from this ugly loss against the Arkansas Razorbacks. This game will be played on Saturday the 27th at 6:00 pm et.