NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The 18th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats have lost consecutive games and three of their last five. Worse, they are struggling to shoot.
Panic is bubbling up in the Bluegrass State.
Fans booed the Wildcats off the court at halftime Friday night and headed to the exits before Kentucky’s miserable and ugly 94-59 loss to No. 11 Gonzaga that dropped the Wildcats to 5-4.
Onetime Kentucky one-and-done star DeMarcus Cousins didn’t hold back on his opinion on social media: “Can’t lie…this uk team has no heart! This is hard to watch smh”
Kentucky coach Mark Pope took no issue issue with Cousins’ opinion and took the blame to himself.
“As a former player, I’m pissed at the coach too, and that’s just all deserved,” Pope said. “There’s nothing inappropriate about what he said at all.”
The Wildcats missed their first 10 shots and first seven outside the arc. The Wildcats shot so poorly that Gonzaga’s Graham Ike made more buckets inside the arc (10) than Kentucky (nine). Kentucky wound up 16 of 60 (26.7%) and 7 of 34 (20.6%) from 3-point range.
Asked if Wildcats were trying to do too much to help, Pope said it was more being indecisive: “It’s all coming from me. It’s on me.”
Fans tried to give Kentucky energy, roaring when Denzel Aberdeen knocked down the first 3 of the game. It didn’t help as Kentucky finished 5 of 31 overall and 3 of 20 from 3-point range, prompting more boos trailing 43-20 at halftime.
“All the boos we heard tonight were incredibly well-deserved mostly for me, and we have to fix it,” Pope said.
This is the second straight game Kentucky has struggled to shoot outside the arc. The Wildcats made just 1 of 13 attempts from 3 losing Tuesday night to No. 16 North Carolina 67-64. Against Gonzaga, they clanked balls off almost every part of the rim with at least a couple airballs only to keep shooting.
That wasn’t the only issue. Kentucky was outrebounded 43-31 and outscored 46-18 in the paint and 32-19 in bench points.
Expectations always are high for the program with eight national championships. Pope taking the Wildcats to the Sweet 16 and a 24-12 record in his debut season. Then the Wildcats beat top-ranked Purdue by 13 in an exhibition in October, amping the usual hype even more.
Injuries sidelined projected starting point guard Jaland Lowe out the last five games with an injured right shoulder, though Lowe came off the bench against Gonzaga wearing a brace. Mouhamed Dioubate missed his fourth Friday night.
Yet another tough nonconference schedule hasn’t helped. Each loss has been to a ranked opponent starting with in-state rival Louisville on Nov. 11 and Michigan State on Nov. 18. Pope said it’s a bad spot right now.
“We have to dig ourselves out of it,” Pope said.
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