Boos rained down on No. 18 Kentucky as the players walked off the floor at halftime Friday night, the Wildcats already buried in what would become a 94-59 loss to No. 11 Gonzaga. The reaction from the largely pro-Kentucky crowd at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena was loud, sharp and unmistakable.
Mark Pope hasn’t averted it.
“All the boos we heard tonight were incredibly well-deserved, especially for me,” the Kentucky coach said said afterplay. “We have to fix it.”
The 35-point loss — Kentucky’s fourth straight loss to a ranked opponent — dropped the No. 18 Wildcats to 5-4 overall in the first month of the season and increased frustration around a program expected to immediately compete after a costly offseason reload.
College basketball rankings: Kentucky hears boos from Wildcats fans after loss to Gonzaga
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Kentucky opened the night by missing its first 10 shots and finished just 16 of 60 from the field. Gonzaga’s Graham Ike scored 28 points and made more two-point field goals (10) than the Wildcats (9) as a team.
As the action unfolded, former Kentucky standout DeMarcus Cousins, one of the program’s most recognizable modern stars, added to the criticism by posting on social media that the team “has no heart.”
Pope did not return to that either.
“As a former player, I am also angry with the coach, and that is just deserved,” Pope said. “There is nothing inappropriate at all about what he said.”
Pope repeatedly placed the blame on himself, pointing to indecisiveness on offense, poor shooting and a lack of cohesion as problems that start with him.
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Kentucky’s struggles are exacerbated by injuries. Jaland Lowe returned on Friday after missing five games due to a shoulder injury, while Mouhamed Dioubate was left out again with a sprained ankle. Top freshman Jayden Quaintance is still recovering from a torn ACL. Still, Pope acknowledged that the program’s norms allow for no excuses — especially lopsided defeats.
“We’re in a bad spot right now and we’ve got to get ourselves out of it,” Pope said. “It will be an internal group matter and we feel the responsibility we have to this university and this fan base.”
Kentucky has now dropped games to Louisville, Michigan State, North Carolina and Gonzaga, and with Indiana and St. John’s looming before SEC play, the pressure is mounting on the Wildcats to stabilize.
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