Kentucky just dropped their second game of the season, and, well, it feels like the tide has turned against them. After stunning wins over powerhouses like Duke and Gonzaga, a loss to unranked Ohio State wasn’t exactly in Mark Pope’s game plan. And to make matters worse, it’s got everyone worried about what this means for their SEC run.

The Wildcats have fallen to No. 61 in the KenPom defensive efficiency ratings. They allowed the Buckeyes to rack up 85 points on 56.6% shooting from the field, including 68.4% from inside the arc. What’s wild is that Ohio State wasn’t even at its best from deep, hitting just 4-of-15 from three-point range.

They came into the game as one of the top shooting teams in the country, averaging 41% from beyond the arc. If that doesn’t set off alarm bells, what will? Mark Pope certainly wasn’t sugarcoating anything in his assessment of what went wrong. He broke it all down during his Monday radio show.

“Defensively, we gave up 15 points on rejects alone,” Pope admitted. “It’s just so uncharacteristic for us, just going away from where we’re leading the ball screen.” He explained that in an attempt to fix some issues, he had emphasized pushing the bigs up higher in ball-screen defense. The result? A total collapse.

“When you let teams reject, it’s the worst thing to do, to push up the bigs,” he said, pointing out how Ohio State capitalized on this misstep. In seven possessions, they scored 15 points—every shot they made, including an and-one. It was a defensive nightmare, and the HC was quick to say “That’s on me, some of that is my responsibility ”

He also highlighted how the Wildcats started strong in the first 10 minutes, staying competitive while waiting for the offense to kick in. But then things fell apart. “We started the game well… pretty solid-ish,” he noted, “and then it started to get away from us.” 

The end of the first half snowballed into more chaos after the break. The Wildcats tried throwing out zone defenses and blitzing ball screens, but nothing stuck. “Ball screens were an issue for us throughout the night,” the new coach added. And obviously, the loss has analysts asking if Kentucky is as good as we thought.

Analysts concerned about Kentucky Wildcats’ SEC run

Jeff Goodman didn’t hold back on The Field of 68: After Dark, saying, “This is a team that frankly isn’t overpowering. They’re built on making threes and overall power by numbers. They don’t have a stud player. They got a bunch of good players.”

The journalist argued that Kentucky’s high ranking was more about their résumé than their actual ability. Sure, wins over Duke and Gonzaga look great on paper, but those victories may have masked some big flaws. Also, Matt McCall questioned how Kentucky would handle adversity during SEC play.

“How they’re going to win games when not going well behind the three-point line—that’s the biggest question mark now,” he said. McCall painted a grim picture of Kentucky grinding through tough SEC games, wondering how they’d hold up in tight, low-scoring matchups.

So, for Mark Pope and his crew, this loss is a wake-up call. The SEC grind is right around the corner (after their New Year’s Eve matchup with the Brown Bears), and the Wildcats can’t afford more nights like this. As Pope said, “We just have to come up with the right answers in the right amount of time.” Hope they find their groove fast because this kind of early-season good run can’t go to waste.