The Wildcats had their chances, but all in all, it’s hard to call Kentucky’s first real test of the season on the road anything other than a complete disappointment. Mark Pope suffered his first defeat as the team shot an abysmal 38.1 percent overall, 25.9 percent from three and 61.1 percent from the line. Clemson opened as the home underdog and made the away favorite pay in the form of some good old-fashioned court rushing.

What went wrong at Littlejohn Coliseum, besides opposing fans hitting the Cats in a stampede at the final buzzer? KSR has the takeaways.

Unable to overcome a first half disaster

Kentucky initially set the tone with a quick 7-2 run, but Clemson responded and really took control for the rest of the first half. The Tigers didn’t shoot well, but absolutely dominated on the glass with a 31-21 overall margin and 13 offensive rebounds that led to 10 second-chance points.

Even though things went well for the Cats in the first half, things immediately went wrong. After trailing 23-19, they went on a quick 9-0 run to take a 28-23 lead with 5:45 minutes left. That led to a 10-0 response and a 14-2 score at the halftime siren, with the Tigers heading into the locker room in full swing.

It wasn’t over forever — Kentucky took back the lead with 15:28 left and didn’t have it until 10:57 — but it never felt like Pope’s team was in a position to get away with it. Clemson behaved like a team, even though its largest lead of the night was only eight. The team’s determination on the glass, which ultimately equalized the overall lead and offense, was very positive, but the rocky start created unnecessary and avoidable problems for the home team and crowd.

Kentucky can’t keep up with the physicality

The Wildcats said the physicality of their previous matchups against WKU and Georgia State would help them prepare for the fight Clemson would show at Littlejohn Coliseum. They knew the Tigers had size and length, a tough, tenacious group with plenty of experience that wouldn’t shy away from the challenge. That’s what made the performance so disappointing, seeing Brad Brownell’s group stick to script as one of the top 15 defenses nationally, suffocating Kentucky all night and forcing its actions to limit clean performances, which led to sloppy turnovers and poor shots. On the other hand, Clemson took it to UK’s defense by creating and exploiting mismatches and causing timely fouls.

“It was a really physical game,” Pope said. “It’s an honor for them, that’s how they play. Their bigs are relentless with their physicality.”

Speeds up to slow down

Clemson posted the No. 300 pace in college basketball and confidently controlled the pace against the sixth-fastest team in the country. The Tigers screwed up a lot to create a really comfortable offensive team that scores more points than anyone else every night, is really uncomfortable, and strips itself of its identity. The off-ball movement and crisp passing that we love disappeared in the form of 11 total assists on 24 made field goals compared to 12 turnovers – just three dimes on 10 first-half goals.

In Pope’s eyes, the Wildcats got faster thanks to defensive intensity and physicality, which caused his group to slow down. Their mutual trust and the existing system turned into a hero ball that contradicts everything the team stands for as an offense.

“Sometimes when you get faster, you actually slow down, and that really hampered us offensively,” Pope said. “That comes with increasing confidence in our style of play and our execution. I think we’re going to be really disappointed in ourselves and how we tried to ring the bell on offense. Out of the goodness of our hearts and care for our team, we try to fix many things ourselves. We don’t play like that.”

7-27 from three

Kentucky averaged 11.1 3-pointers per game before the Clemson game, good for No. 1 in the SEC and No. 12 in Division I. That led to an average of 96.7 points per contest in seven games, good for No. 1 both within the SEC and nationally. These two things went hand in hand.

What went hand in hand for the Wildcats at Clemson? A season-low 66 points for the Wildcats after an abysmal record of 7-27 from three. Jaxson Robinson and Butler were the only players to make multiple shots from the perimeter, while the rest of the team only managed a total of three shots on 16 attempts. They couldn’t buy a basket as a three-minute scoring streak popped up left and right as the Tigers found just enough consistency to eke out the victory.

Lamont Butler struggled with foul trouble and an ankle injury

The San Diego State transfer was one of the very few gems for the Wildcats against the Tigers, finishing with 16 points on 6-9 shooting and 2-4 from three with five assists, two rebounds and a steal. However, it all only took 19 minutes. Butler was limited to just nine minutes in the first minute due to a foul and 12 minutes in the second after suffering an ankle injury.

He scored with a quick and-one to give Britain the spark, then secured another tough basket for the team’s largest lead of the day at six before all hell broke loose down the stretch. Ball movement increased in the second half after the ball got stuck early only to see Butler get injured as a result.

Is it a completely different ball game when the fifth-grader has been out there as the game’s best plus-17 player for a while? The chances are good.

“We just didn’t function as well (without Butler), so I’m wondering if there’s a way to roll the dice a little bit more and increase those minutes,” Pope said. “Lamont kind of gave us everything he had in the second half, but his wheel was a little broken and that certainly had some impact on the game.”

Andrew Carr and Kerr Kriisa were not present

Carr saved the day for Kentucky against Duke in the Champions Classic, posting a team-high 17 points and six rebounds. That was against ACC competition, just as Clemson was for the former ACC member himself as a Wake Forest transfer. In his last two games against the Tigers, he had 18 points and 11 rebounds, then 17 points and five rebounds – both wins. It was entirely expected that the fifth-grader would be the one to compete again in a difficult street environment against a familiar opponent. Instead, he allowed open shots and missed the ones he made en route to five points on 1-7 shooting with five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two turnovers in 24 minutes.

For Kriisa, his time on the floor was crucial as Butler was out for extended periods in both halves. Instead, he finished the day with zero points on 0-for-4 shooting, two rebounds and one steal in 21 minutes, a team-low -21 in plus/minus. He looked to flop fouls early on, but the officials quickly caught on and failed to save him, leading to transition opportunities the other way as Kriisa was still on the floor. When it came to actual production, the beloved fifth grader was left behind.