The numbers behind Kentucky’s loss to Ohio State at Madison Square Garden are ugly. Mark Pope even acknowledged the discrepancies in his postgame comments from New York, saying, “They beat us in virtually every facet of the game.”

One plus: Free throw shooting has finally improved, led by Otega OwehThe result is a perfect 13-on-13 game. The Wildcats answered the bell there, hitting 27 of 32 foul shots. But beyond free agency, UK shot terribly against the Buckeyes. Kentucky’s field goal percentage of 29.8 was its lowest of the season and for the first time under 30 percent for a game.

(BOX SCORE: Kentucky goes ice cold at Madison Square Garden)

Ohio State’s defense forced Kentucky into poor shot selection. Mark Pope told Tom Leach that another part of the problem was that the Buckeyes were hitting from everywhere – Ohio State shot 56.6 percent – and the Wildcats were overzealous in responding.

“We probably had 6,7, 8 possessions in the second half where we were kind of dribbling in traffic and jumping off one leg to make a play,” Pope said, “and it’s not just about the cost of that, those difficult ones Situations to endure shots, it’s all the ones you don’t get that actually give you rhythm, that force the defense to play.

“It doesn’t come from a bad place in the boys’ hearts. It’s because of this overzealousness to fix the problem and this lack of confidence in what we’re doing and expanding ownership.”

Pope took the blame for poor “energy management,” as he put it. “Yes, defense is a battle, so we have to perform better together, with more speed and more determination on offense.”

7 of 23 on layups

Missing 70 percent of layups is no way to win a basketball game, no matter the opponent or how Pope manages or mismanages his players’ energy. Kentucky struggled around the rim and missed shot after shot from close range. Some were due to weak efforts; others simply didn’t want to go in. What stood out most was Jaxson Robinson’s second-half miss at the rim, which was an opportunity to cut back the Buckeyes’ lead after Bruce Thornton’s 3-pointer stretched the dwindling deficit back to nine points. Robinson moved to a wide-open lane, and Brandon Garrison threw him a well-placed pass from the top of the 3-point line, but Robinson nailed the ball to the front of the hoop with both hands and missed from the point-empty area. Ohio State would score the other way five seconds later, a significant turning point in the game. You have to make the layups, especially the uncontested ones.

4 of 22 on 3-point shots

It wasn’t just the close shots that didn’t go into the goal. Once again, Kentucky shot poorly from three, hitting just four three-pointers on a 4-of-22 shooting night from outside. The cold shooting performance was by far the worst game of the season. Kentucky’s previous lows were seven 3-pointers in a game (three times) and a season-low 25.9 percent shooting against Clemson.

The Wildcats set new records in New York with four three-pointers while shooting 18.2 percent against Ohio State. It’s almost impossible for this team to win a game that shoots so poorly from 3-point range.

Kentucky’s 3-point shooting rate per game

Wright State: 45.8% (11-24)
Bucknell: 36.1% (13-36)
Duke: 40.0% (10-25)
Lip Comb: 48.0% (12-25)
Jackson State: 43.6% (17-39)
Western Kentucky: 27.6% (8-29)
Georgia State: 26.9% (7-26)
Clemson: 25.9% (7-27)
Gonzaga: 28.0% (7-25)
Colgate: 32.3% (10-31)
Louisville: 32.3% (11-21)
Ohio State: 18.2% (4-22)