Kentucky basketball, out-toughed by grittier Clemson team, drops first game of season

Posted by Admin December 4, 2024 Basketball

CLEMSON, S.C. — Ahead of its highly anticipated matchup versus Kentucky basketball, the Clemson athletics department decided on a T-shirt promotion. Only the first 1,000 students to arrive at Littlejohn Coliseum on Tuesday would receive a shirt.

Emblazoned across the front of the black shirt, which featured a basketball and Clemson’s iconic tiger paw logo (in white), was a phrase: “GRIT After Dark.”

The Wildcats were gritty. But not as tough as the Tigers. As might be expected, that wasn’t a winning formula for No. 6 Kentucky in its first true road game of the 2024-25 season.

Though UK led for more than 15 minutes Tuesday, it wasn’t on top of the scoreboard at the final buzzer, as Clemson won, 70-66, to hand the visitors their first loss under new coach Mark Pope.

“It was a really physical game. It’s a credit to them,” Pope said, referring to the Tigers. “It’s how they play. Their bigs are relentless with their physicality toward working it into the post.”

Yet the Wildcats (7-1) actually won the battle on the interior, claiming a four-point edge (30-26) in points in the paint. But the Tigers (8-1) owned the advantage in other categories where toughness comes into play.

Turnovers (Kentucky 12, Clemson eight). Blocks (Clemson nine, Kentucky six).

“We tried to — out of the goodness of our hearts and the care for our team — fix a lot of things by ourselves. It’s just not how we play. We’re not a minus assist-to-turnover ratio team,” said Pope, whose club had one fewer assist (11) than its dozen giveaways. “That’s not who we are, and all the credit goes to Clemson for creating that environment.”

The greatest indicator of the Wildcats’ struggles Tuesday: They let the Tigers dictate the pace.

UK entered as the top team in the country in fast-break points per game at 23 on the nose; it managed just eight Tuesday — the same as Clemson. Which ranked 253rd (of 355 Division I programs whose statistics are tracked by the NCAA) with only 8.75 fast-break points an outing.

“They were picking up full court as soon as we got the ball inbounds,” said fifth-year senior UK guard Jaxson Robinson, who had 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting. “So, that’s just how it went.”

Pope said Clemson’s ability to control the contest’s tempo was a three-pronged issue for his team.

Problem 1: Clemson’s dominance on the glass in the first half, when it pulled down 10 more boards (31-21) than UK.
Problem 2: Clemson jamming UK ball handlers at every turn.
Problem 3: A lack of fifth-year senior guard Lamont Butler in the first half (because of foul trouble) and in the second (because of an injury).

The Tigers were just better on this night. Bottom line.

“Sometimes when you get sped up, you actually get slowed down and that very much happened to us on the offensive side,” Pope said, “and that comes with just growing trust in the way we play and how we execute.”

If nothing else, Tuesday was a lesson for a Kentucky program that turned over 100% of its roster from the 2023-24 campaign.

“The physicality was definitely something that we haven’t seen yet,” Robinson said. “This is an entirely new group. We’re experienced, but we don’t have the experience together yet of just playing against teams like Clemson.”

Kentucky won’t have any time to lick its wounds. An even tougher test than Clemson is on tap now: No. 8 Gonzaga. UK makes the long trek to the West Coast to square off with the Zags at 10 p.m. ET Saturday in a neutral-site battle in Seattle.

That’s why Tuesday — though Pope conceded losses like this will be “a learning process” for his team — can’t linger. The Wildcats must “learn fast,” he said.

If not, their loss total might double by the time Sunday arrives.

“Where my mind is right now, I learned that we have unbelievable resolve. We have unbelievable togetherness. We have the toughness to come compete and try and make things better,” Pope said. “And we’re going to continue to learn to trust how we play, offensively and defensively.”

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.