No. 3 Kentucky men’s basketball was defeated by No. 14 Oakland in the NCAA Tournament first round on Thursday by a score of 80-76.
With Kentucky’s freshman stars rattled, the Cats looked entirely outmatched against the No. 14 Golden Grizzlies.
The Wildcats entered the game as a three seed despite going out in their first SEC Tournament matchup versus Texas A&M.
Looking to win an NCAA Tournament game for the second year in a row, the Cats brough out a familiar starting lineup of Justin Edwards, Tre Mitchell, Antonio Reeves, D.J. Wagner and Ugonna Onyenso.
In a fashion fans have been forced to grow used to in the postseason, Kentucky began trailing early as Oakland jumped ahead on the back of stellar three-point shooter Jack Gohlke.
With over seven minutes remaining in the first half, Gohlke had already cracked double digits and did so despite some defensive improvements by the Cats.
Kentucky was able to battle back, with Rob Dillingham finally seeming to catch some fire, but, once again, Gohlke struck for the Golden Grizzlies.
While the Cats had a chance to tie the game before the end of the half, a costly turnover prevented them from doing so.
Kentucky would rally back to take the lead in the second half but it was, once again, short-lived as the Golden Grizzlies nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to go up by four points.
Surprisingly, things seemed to get worse for Kentucky in the second half.
With Mitchell and Reeves continuing to do the heavy lifting as the freshmen appeared rattled, Kentucky continued trailing with under four minutes left to play.
The Cats were simply outmatched down the stretch as poor turnovers and missed shots saw the Cats ultimately fall short, bowing out of the “Big Dance” in the first round as a top three seed for the second time in three years.
The result officially ended the 2023-24 season for Kentucky with it being, undeniably, a massive disappointment as the Cats failed to reach the second weekend for the fifth straight season.
