Kentucky was annihilated on its home floor on Friday night.

During a 94-59 loss to the No. 11 Gonzaga Bulldogs, Kentucky fans made their displeasure with the No. 18 Wildcats known, as there was rampant booing throughout the night – and Kentucky head coach Mark Pope understands the frustration.

“All the boos that we heard tonight were incredibly well-deserved, mostly for me, and we have to fix it,” Pope said after the loss. “We’ve kind of diminished a little bit into a bad spot right now that we have to dig ourselves out of it, and it’s going to be an internal group thing, and we feel the responsibility we have to this university and this fan base.”

Kentucky shot 26.7% from the field, 20.6% from behind the arc and was out-rebounded by Gonzaga, 40-27. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs shot 57.1% from the field and 50% from behind the arc. Gonzaga forwards Graham Ike and Braden Huff combined for 48 points. Moreover, the Bulldogs were coming off a 101-61 loss to the No. 7 Michigan Wolverines.

The loss dropped Kentucky to 5-4, with all four losses being against ranked opponents: Louisville (96-88), Michigan State (83-66), North Carolina (67-64) and Gonzaga (94-59). 

“As you roll through life,” Pope said, “you just have your response, and our response so far has not been adequate, and we have to fix it.”

Kentucky can correct course as it plays two more ranked out-of-conference matchups before SEC play begins, as it hosts No. 22 Indiana on Dec. 13 and No. 23 St. John’s on Dec. 20.

Pope is in his second season at Kentucky, with the Wildcats going 24-12 and earning a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament last season before later losing to Tennessee in the Sweet 16. 

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Gonzaga forward Graham stewed on everything that transpired during the Bulldogs’ 40-point loss to Michigan in the Players Era Festival for over a week.

The 6-foot-9 forward and preseason All-American candidate looked anything but one of the best players in the country against the Wolverines. Ike scored just one point — his lowest point total since his first collegiate game as a freshman — and failed to make a single shot from the field for just the third time in his five-year college career, epitomizing the kind of night Gonzaga had to endure on its way to the program’s worst margin of defeat in the Mark Few era.

The ensuing nine days leading up to Friday’s showdown against Kentucky from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena was business as usual, according to Ike, though wanting to right all the wrongs from the previous outing would’ve been natural for him and the Zags.

That, and getting to face off against a familiar opponent he had dominated the past two meetings probably helped too.

The Wildcats wound up being the punching bag Ike and the Bulldogs needed to take their frustrations out on, as Gonzaga pulled off its second-largest win over an Associated Press Top 25 team in a 94-59 final from Bridgestone Arena on Friday.

Ike matched his Gonzaga career high with 28 points while grabbing 10 rebounds, nearly duplicating his 28-point, 11-rebound performance from last season’s overtime thriller against Kentucky in Seattle. This time around, though, the Zags held onto their double-digit halftime lead instead of giving it up in crunch time, handing the Wildcats their second-largest defeat as a ranked team in program history.

Friday also marked Kentucky’s third loss to Gonzaga since November 2022. Ike had a hand in the Zags’ impressive 89-85 win over the Wildcats at Rupp Arena in 2024 (23 points, 10-of-17 shooting) and followed up nine months later with 28 points and 11 rebounds in a narrow loss from Climate Pledge Arena.

With Friday’s game in the books, Ike averages 26.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists on 59.2% shooting from the field in three career games against Kentucky.

Here’s what Ike had to say after the game.

On the nine days in between the Michigan game and Friday

“Standard nine days. But definitely just wanted to dial in on our response. It was a great opportunity to see what we’re made of, and we responded well. Proud of the guys for doing so tonight.”

On taming the pro-Kentucky crowd early on

“I thought it was huge, keeping the crowd out of it. Credit to the guys — everybody stepped in and played great defense. I remember holding them to two points for a while and after they hit their first 3, that’s kind of when the crowd erupted. It just let me know how many people were here tonight so, I thought we did a great job controlling the crowd.”

On dominating Kentucky in paint points

“It’s really just our brand and style of basketball. Just forcing the ball inside, high-low, post duck-ins — just trying to get other guys open and sometimes, I got myself open. I appreciate you guys for giving me the ball. [Braeden] Smith had a great game tonight. Him and Mario [Saint-Supéry]. Six assists for B Smith — I just appreciate all my teammates.”

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