Kentucky returns to the court 10 days after being thrashed by Ohio State in a beating coach Mark Pope termed “the worst ever.”
The No. 10 Wildcats (10-2) will look to take out their frustrations on an Ivy League opponent when they entertain Brown (7-4) on Tuesday in Lexington, Ky.
Kentucky was soundly outplayed by the Buckeyes during an 85-65 setback on Dec. 21 in which it shot 29.8 percent from the field and Ohio State made 56.6 percent of its shots in the CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York.
“What a bad night. Just devastating,” Pope said of the loss. “It was just the worst, the worst ever. To do it in that venue wearing this jersey, it’s devastating.”
The Wildcats have had to sit on that memory during an extended break between games. Pope is looking forward to playing the nonconference finale and then getting his team ready for Saturday’s Southeastern Conference opener against Florida.
“There’s nothing you can do with it but help dig in and hope it make you better, right?” Pope said. “And in long conversations with our guys and our staff and digging into the numbers, the nuts and bolts, it’s also exciting to grow and get better and to move forward.”
Otega Oweh scored 21 points against Ohio State, helped by a 13-of-13 effort from the free-throw line. Andrew Carr had 13 points and Jaxson Robinson scored 10.
Lamont Butler had just four points on 1-of-7 shooting. In the previous game against Louisville, Butler scored a career-high 33 points on 10-of-10 shooting, including sinking a career-high six 3-pointers.
Oweh leads Kentucky with a 16.2 scoring average. Butler is second at 14.0 points per game. Robinson (12.3), Koby Brea (11.8) and Carr (11.1) also score in double digits.
Kentucky averages 89.1 points per game but scored fewer than 70 in both its defeats. The other was a 70-66 loss to Clemson on Dec. 3.
Brown rattled off six straight wins before getting whipped 87-53 at then-No. 8 Kansas in its most recent game on Dec. 22.
The Bears shot just 26.7 percent from the field and were 8 of 33 from 3-point range against the Jayhawks. Brown trailed by 11 at halftime before being outscored 45-22 in the second half.
“We struggled to score the basketball. We didn’t shoot the ball as well as we have been,” Brown coach Mike Martin said. “Kansas made us uncomfortable with their pressure and their switching. We had some moments especially in the first half where I thought we ran some good offense and got great shots that didn’t go in. If those shots go in it might’ve been closer at halftime.”
Brown star Kino Lilly Jr. scored 18 points but was just 7 of 21 from the field and 4 of 13 from 3-point range.
However, Lilly did move into third place on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,626 career points. He is 43 points away from passing second-place Arnie Berman (1,668 from 1969-72).
Lilly holds the school’s record for career 3-pointers with 284. He has 44 this season while averaging a team-leading 20.0 points per game.
Second-leading scorer Landon Lewis (13.9) is shooting a torrid 63.2 percent from the field. Aaron Cooley contributes 12.5 points and a team-best 7.6 rebounds per game.
Kentucky and Brown are meeting for the first time.
–Field Level Media
