CRAWFORD | North Carolina hands Kentucky its 3rd straight loss to a ranked opponent, 67-64

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Hustonville, we have a problem.

No. 18 Kentucky has played three ranked teams. After Tuesday night’s 67-64 loss to No. 16 North Carolina in Rupp Arena, it has lost to all three. With No. 11 Gonzaga waiting Friday night in Nashville.

It is worth repeating that Kentucky was without point guard Jaland Lowe, and Alabama transfer Mo Dioubate, and, for that matter, big man Jayden Quaintance. But North Carolina wasn’t 100 percent either, playing without its senior team captain and leading scorer.

The teams looked like their injured lists. Offenses that labored. Kentucky’s largest lead was six. North Carolina’s was three.

The Wildcats made just one three-pointer, and shot only 13. North Carolina went 6-of-20 from beyond the arc, one of them a three-pointer by Derek Dixon with 53 seconds left that put the Tar Heels up two. After a Collin Chandler layup, Dixon went to work again, working off a screen and beating Malachi Moreno to the rim for a layup that put UNC up by 2 with 16 seconds left, and a Chandler layup on the other end didn’t go.

"It’s going to be hard for us to win scoring 64 points," Kentucky coach Mark Pope said. "It's uncommon for us to be 1-for-13 from three. That’s not really who we are. More disappointing is the eight assists. That’s really frustrating. I thought in the second half our decision-making was poor. And caught up in the moment trying to make -- you know, we still are on a steep learning curve trying to figure out how to make plays for our teammates. We shoot it well when we actually do that, and we don’t, we don’t."

The problems, for Kentucky, are multiple and wide-ranging. The Wildcats gave up 20 offensive rebounds and were outscored 20-8 on the offensive glass (including 13-1 in the second half). They dished out only eight assists. And though they outscored North Carolina 42-34 in the paint, North Carolina won that stat in the second half, too, 20-14.

"I’m really frustrated with the rebounding tonight," Pope said. "That’s credit to North Carolina and it’s uncharacteristic for us. It just hasn’t been us, but we just got crushed on the glass. It’s very, very disappointing tonight for sure. But I don’t think that’s who we are. I’m really frustrated with the 8 (assists) and 9 (turnovers), that’s not who we’ve been either."

Kentucky had just two field goals in the game’s final 13 minutes, a span that included the 10:25 stretch without a field goal at all.

Still, the Wildcats came out of that with a two-point lead. But North Carolina made more plays at the end.

In Rupp Arena. In a game Kentucky badly needed and led for more than 25 minutes.

This is the problem.

Against a team with far less depth, Kentucky coach Mark Pope did not utilize his bench. Brandon Garrison played only nine minutes. Four Wildcats – Denzel Aberdeen (35), Chandler (34) Otega Oweh (33), Moreno (31) – played more than 31 minutes.

Oweh finished with 16 points and Chandler 12. But the ball movement that created driving lanes, the passing for open threes, and the threes themselves, have evaporated.

Something more than offense has ground to a halt with this team. It’s still early, yes, but the direction is troubling. A good bit could be solved by getting healthy.

But this was a game Kentucky had to win. And it didn’t play like it.