Kentucky finds itself in the midst of a rough stretch that has former players questioning the team’s heart. The No. 18 Wildcats will look to start changing the narrative when they face North Carolina Central on Tuesday night in Lexington, Ky.
Kentucky (5-4) has suffered consecutive losses to open December, falling 67-64 to No. 16 North Carolina on Tuesday and 94-59 to No. 11 Gonzaga on Friday. The Wildcats faithful who made the trek to Nashville for the Gonzaga game booed the team as they headed to the locker room trailing 43-20 at halftime.
The 35-point loss to Gonzaga was Kentucky’s first by 30 or more since a 118-84 defeat against Duke on Nov. 6, 2018.
Afterward, former Kentucky standout DeMarcus Cousins wrote on social media: “Can’t lie…this uk team has no heart! This is hard to watch smh”
Told about Cousins’ comments, Kentucky coach Mark Pope didn’t run from it.
“As a former player, I’m pissed at the coach, too,” Pope said. “That’s all just deserved. There’s nothing inappropriate about what he said at all.”
Kentucky should have a chance to regroup against NC Central before facing No. 22 Indiana on Dec. 13 and No. 23 St. John’s on Dec. 20.
Otega Oweh has been the Wildcats’ biggest scoring threat, averaging 13.7 points, followed by Denzel Aberdeen (12.9) and Collin Chandler (11.7). Malachi Moreno is averaging 9.7 points and a team-leading 7.1 rebounds per game.
Jaland Lowe, who missed five games recovering from a shoulder injury, returned against Gonzaga. He came off the bench, finishing with one point in 14 minutes.
The Wildcats struggled offensively in the last two games. Against Gonzaga, they missed their first 10 field-goal attempts. Against UNC, Kentucky missed 13 straight shots during a 10-plus-minute scoring drought in the second half.
“We’ve kind of diminished a little bit to a bad spot right now,” Pope said. “We have to dig ourselves out, and it’s going to be an internal group thing. We feel the responsibility to this university and this fan base.”
NC Central (3-8), meanwhile, has lost four of its last five. The Eagles have faced three teams from power conferences, the last being a 97-53 loss at then-No. 18 North Carolina on Nov. 14.
Gage Lattimore has been the Eagles’ best player, averaging 19.5 ppg. Khouri Carvey is averaging 14.1 points and a team-leading 6.4 rebounds.
NC Central is coming off a 69-54 loss to visiting North Carolina A&T on Saturday, a game in which it shot 26.8% from the field and 11.1% from 3-point range. The Eagles lost the rebounding battle 49-31.
“We didn’t have our best night just shooting the basketball,” coach LeVelle Moton said. “When the ball don’t go in the hole, it takes the morale and energy out.”
This is the teams’ first meeting.
