Coach Pope explains what went wrong against Clemson

Kentucky couldn't find a rhythm on Tuesday night.

Nov 29, 2024; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope looks on during the first half against the Georgia State Panthers at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images / Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Kentucky basketball suffered their first loss of the season on Tuesday night when they fell to Clemson 70-66. The Tigers took away much of what Kentucky does best, and that is pushing the pace and hitting threes. Kentucky was slowed down and couldn't get shots to fall. On top of that, Clemson's physicality seemed to be too much for the Wildcats.

Those are things that need to be improved on as the schedule continues to get tougher, especially playing in a conference that is known for being physical. Mark Pope talked more in-depth about what went wrong for the Wildcats in their tough loss on Tuesday. He aknowledged Clemson's impressive gameplan, saying they took Kentucky out of their flow.

"Two things. One was our inability to rebound the ball. They do a nice job jamming the ball. Foul issues with Lamont (Butler) was tricky in the first half, and the injury with Lamont was tricky in the second half. There were a lot of different things, both circumstances of the game, and what Clemson does that made it more difficult to kind of play with the pace that we traditionally want to. Something interesting happens sometimes. When you get sped up, you actually get slowed down and that very much hampered us on the offensive side. That comes with growing, trust, and the way we play and how we execute. ...We tried to fix a lot of things by ourselves. That's just not how we play."

- Pope on the struggles against Clemson.

Clemson certainly took Kentucky out of their usual flow, and that was evident in the game. Kentucky seemed to rush a lot on offense, while being slowed down, and it led to a number of forced shots. Not only that, but the Wildcats shot just 7-27 from three on the night. The Tigers made it a grind-out, slow, physical game, and Kentucky was flustered.

They'll get a chance to bounce back on Saturday against No. 7 Gonzaga in Seattle.