The Mark Pope Era at Kentucky sustained its first loss on Tuesday courtesy of an inspired Clemson squad in a physical SEC/ACC Challenge matchup.
The Tigers built a seven-point lead at halftime and used that cushion to keep the No. 4 Wildcats at bay the rest of the night in a 70-66 upset at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, S.C.
"It's one of the things that Clemson does really well," Pope said of the Tigers' physicality. "... It's a credit to them. That's how they play. Their bigs are relentless."
Clemson (8-1) had two key spurts that led to victory. The Tigers outscored UK 14-2 over the final five minutes of the first half and used a 15-6 run midway through the second half to regain the lead and control of the game.
Kentucky (7-1) pulled within two inside the final 10 seconds, but Clemson's Chase Hunter sealed the victory with a pair of free throws.
Four Tigers scored in double-figures, led by guard Jaeden Zackery with 13 points. Chauncey Wiggins followed with 12 points, while Ian Schieffelin added 11 points to go along with a career-high 20 rebounds, and Hunter chipped in with 10.
Kentucky had one of its worst offensive performances of the season, shooting 38% from the field, going 7-of-27 from the 3-point arc, and missing seven of its 18 free throws. The Cats had only 10 assisted buckets and committed 11 turnovers.
"We tried to fix a lot of things by ourselves, which is not how we play," Pope said. "We're not a minus assist-to-turnover ratio team. It's not how we play."
Otega Oweh led the Cats with 17 points, followed by Lamont Butler with 16 points and six assists, and Jaxson Robinson with 12 points.
Koby Brea, who entered the game leading the nation in 3-point shooting percentage, was held to just three points on 1-of-2 shooting from beyond the arc.
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In this "Rapid Recap" feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK loss...
KEY MOMENT:
Kentucky held a 28-23 lead with 5:29 remaining in the first half before Clemson mounted a 14-2 run to take a seven-point advantage into the break. The Tigers' Jaeden Zackery knocked down two 3-pointers during the spurt. Meanwhile, all the Cats could manage on their final nine shots from the field was a single layup by Ansley Almonor. Two other possessions ended in turnovers.
GAME BALL:
Ian Schieffelin, Clemson -- It's kinda hard to give this to a player who had a 4-for-20 shooting night, but no one can deny the energy that the Tigers' grad senior forward brought on both ends of the floor. He finished with 11 points and 20 rebounds in 36 minutes of action.
BY THE NUMBERS:
1st - Time this season that Kentucky has finished with more turnovers (12) than assists (11).
4th - Opposing player, Clemson's Ian Schieffelin, to record 20 rebounds against Kentucky dating back to 1976, joining Kansas' Hunter Dickinson (Nov. 14, 2023), Florida's Andrew DeClercq (Jan. 18th, 1994), and LSU's Shaquille O’Neal (Feb. 15th, 1990 and Feb. 2nd, 1992)
12-5 - The Cats' lead in the all-time series with Clemson.
22-82 - Kentucky's 3-point shooting (26.8%) in the last three games.
44-44 - The rebounding battle finished in a tie after Clemson led 31-21 at halftime. The Tigers had a 10-1 advantage in second-chance points in the first half, and the Cats had a 12-0 edge in the second half.
3-19-2006 - The last time UK had no freshmen appear in a game, a second-round NCAA Tournament matchup with UConn.
QUOTABLE:
"We finished the first half down 10-1 on points off the glass. That's probably where the game was lost... We have to continue to grow in that area." -- UK head coach Mark Pope
UP NEXT:
Kentucky returns to action on Saturday against No. 7 Gonzaga (7-1) in a 10 p.m. ET tipoff from Seattle's Climate Pledge Arena.
