Kentucky learning from the "gut-wrenching" loss to Ohio State

The Wildcats will use the loss to improve and move forward.

Dec 21, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Kentucky Wildcats center Amari Williams (22) during the second half against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images / John Jones-Imagn Images

Kentucky basketball laid their worst clunker performance of the season on Saturday when they were upset by Ohio State in a 20-point loss in Madison Square Garden. Now, they're in the middle of a 10-day break between games, and will be using the loss as a learning experience and to keep striving to improve.

Mark Pope was on his call-in radio show on Monday, calling the loss "devastating" and very "gut-wrenching" type of loss. He knows his players will respond and use the loss as fuel before SEC play begins soon. The Wildcats looked all out of sorts against the Buckeyes, as their shooting was off again, but they also are struggling to handle physical play.

"What bad night, I mean, just devastating. Just gut-wrenching. ...It was the worst ever. To do it in that venue, wearing this jersey, and for us to have that outcome was devastating, but it also, ...there's nothing you can do with it but dig in and help it make you better. In long conversations with our guys, our staff, and digging into the numbers, the nuts and bolts, it's also exciting to grow and get better and to move forward. We still have a ton of faith in our team and what we can become and this actually gonna help us do it. ...Super painful, part of the process, but the only choice we have right now is just to use it to make us much better, and we will. We're actually good at that."

- Pope on learning from Ohio State loss.

There's obviously a number of things to improve on before facing Florida on January 4, but they'll have some time to focus on certain areas to get better, as they'll face Brown before then on Tuesday. Phyisical play should be near the top of the list, but getting their shooting back on track is a must.