Kentucky is still looking for its first signature win of the season after dropping a 67-64 decision to No. 16 North Carolina on Tuesday night.
The setback was the 18th-ranked Wildcats’ first home loss of the season and dropped them to 0-3 against ranked foes a year after Mark Pope’s first squad developed a reputation for defeating teams ranked in the Top 25.
In their previous two contests against ranked teams, Kentucky came up short in a 96-88 loss at No. 6 Louisville and dropped a disappointing 83-66 setback to No. 7 Michigan State in the State Farm Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden.
In what turned into a defensive showdown between two of the highest-scoring teams in the country, North Carolina held the Wildcats to just one 3-pointer and limited the hosts to just eight offensive rebounds and five second-chance points. Neither team led by more than six in a game that featured nine ties and 14 lead changes, but North Carolina stood tall on the glass.
The Tar Heels (7-1) outrebounded Kentucky 41-30 and claimed 20 offensive rebounds, which resulted in 22 second-chance points.
“That was a huge part of the game,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said. “We're actually, actually one of the best percentage defensive rebound teams in the country, and credit to North Carolina. They have size and length, and their front line really dominates. They had 12 offensive rebounds with just their starting three, four and five. And we were really poor at our second hit and that was really frustrating. It's hard to win a game when you give up 20 offensive rebounds.”
Kentucky (5-3) struggled behind the arc, making just one 3-pointer on 13 attempts. The Wildcats missed their first eight treys and didn’t make a field goal for more than 10 minutes in the second half. In addition, Kentucky finished with just eight assists.
“It's uncommon for us to be 1-for-13 from three,” Pope said. “That's not really who we are. More disappointing is, that is the eight assists. That's really frustrating. In the second half, our decision-making was poor and we got caught up in the moment.”
Despite the struggles, Kentucky still had its chances and tied the score at 64-64 on Collin Chandler’s driving layup. The Wildcats tried a similar play down by two, but Chandler missed a layup attempt, while the Tar Heels made one of two free throws and stole a desperate inbounds pass for their first road win of the year and first win in Rupp Arena since 2007.
Chandler finished with 12 points, while Otega Oweh led Kentucky with 16 points. Denzel Aberdeen rounded out three players in double figures with 10 points.
In the first half, Kentucky was the aggressor and scored 10 points off six turnovers and took advantage of the Tar Heels’ miscues, but the guests turned the tables in the second half.
“We weren't from a defensive standpoint, we weren't making mistakes,” North Carolina coach Hubert Davis said. “Kentucky is an unbelievable team, but I felt like, especially in the first half, they were scoring off of our mistakes, and I felt like we were sound and simple on the defensive end. We were standing between them in the basket.
"We were giving them one contested look, and then we were boxing out and rebounding. You always go back and say that rebounding is the most important factor in the outcome of a game, and we got 20 offensive rebounds. We outrebounded them by nine. To me, that's the ball game.”
Malachi Moreno, who led the hosts with nine rebounds and finished with eight points, said North Carolina got most of the breaks on the offensive and defensive glass.
"I think there were a lot of 50-50 rebounds,” he said. “We tried to come up with a lot of them, but I think they just came up with more. That was kind of deciding factor.”
STEIN TIME
Newly hired Kentucky football coach Will Stein was introduced to the crowd during the first media timeout and received roaring applause from the crowd.
Stein, the former offensive coordinator at Oregon, was hired to replace Mark Stoops on Monday and will be formally introduced at a press conference set for 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Nutter Fieldhouse.
GAMETRACKER: Kentucky vs. Gonzaga, 6 p.m. CT Friday in Nashville. TV/Radio: ESPN, UK Radio Network on 94.7 The Mix and WiLLiE 102.
Will Stein is introduced to roaring applause in Rupp Arena. He became UK's new football coach on Monday night. (Photo by Les Nicholson)
Kentucky's Jasper Johnson drives to the basket in a 67-64 loss to North Carolina on Tuesday. (Photo by Les Nicholson)
