BOX SCORE: Cold perimeter shooting, poor ball security play big role in Kentucky’s loss to Texas

Most of the conversation about Kentucky’s loss to Texas will be centered around what happened after the final media timeout. The Wildcats held a 69-66 lead after failing to grab a defensive rebound entering that stoppage with 3:36 left in the game. The Horns would then outscore the Cats 16-9 to leave the Moody Center with an important Quad 1 victory.

Texas heads home with a much-needed 82-78 victory where Rodney Terry‘s team got 58 combined points from Tre Johnson and Tramon Mark. The final meltdown will be throughly analyzed, but the game probably should’ve been all but over before that final media timeout.

Cold shooting and turnovers doomed Kentucky in this latest Quad 1 loss.

Kentucky was the best three-point shooting team in the SEC and ranks inside the top 15 nationally in three-point field goal percentage entering this weekend. The Wildcats are who they are because of the long ball. Even with injuries, the Wildcats still can employ lineups with good shooting. Kentucky built this team to beat opponents with three-point shooting.

That team strength failed Kentucky on Saturday.

The Wildcats finished the game shooting 6-of-24 (25%) from three-point range. That’s 16 percentage points lower than the team’s season average. Koby Brea and Otega Oweh went a combined 1-of-9 from three. The only make was a Oweh heave at the buzzer when the game was decided. That kind of inefficient perimeter shooting will be hard for this team to overcome.

The turnovers also matter.

Kentucky shot 52.6 percent from two on 38 attempts, recorded 18 offensive rebounds in 68 possessions, and added 20 points from the free throw line, but there should have been more total shot attempts. Ball security was once again a massive issue without Lamont Butler. UK finished the game with a 22.1 percent turnover rate. The Cats had 10 turnovers in 36 second-half possessions. That mattered a great deal as it prevented the road underdog from extending the lead multiple times in the second half.

Mark Pope‘s staff has some end of game situations to work through, but this game was mostly lost due to poor ball security and a rare bad perimeter shooting performance.

BOX SCORE: Kentucky vs. Texas

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