No. 9 Kentucky men’s basketball hosted Georgetown in its final preseason exhibition, falling to the Hoyas 84-70.
This marked Kentucky’s first exhibition loss since 2014 against the Dominican Republic.
The starting lineup for the Cats consisted of Otega Oweh, Mouhamed Dioubate, Brandon Garrison, Trent Noah, and Colin Chandler.
In his second season as a Wildcat, Chandler took his first-ever start in the blue and white, filling in for Denzel Aberdeen, who was listed as out for the game as a precaution, per Jack Pilgrim of KSR.
Georgetown won the opening tipoff and would capitalize on it with a layup to take the first point of the game. However, Oweh would quickly respond with a score of his own to tie it up.
Both teams showed offensive momentum throughout the first couple of minutes of the game. Heading into the first timeout, the Hoyas took an early 12-11 lead after scoring on four out of five straight shots.
The start was slow for Kentucky, especially in comparison to its explosive first few minutes against No. 1 Purdue last week.
However, a few explosive plays on the defense got the ball back in the Cats’ hands and Rupp Arena on its feet, giving Kentucky the chance to take its first lead of the game after a two-minute scoring drought for the Hoyas.
Both teams started struggling offensively. Kentucky would shoot 1-7 before Jasper Johnson would drain a deep three to put the Wildcats on top 19-16.
Mark Pope would take his first timeout of the game with 9:38 remaining in the first half, the Hoyas scoring on back-to-back plays. Georgetown extended its scoring drive to 7-0 coming out of the timeout, before Oweh would finally find the net once again for Kentucky.
Kentucky struggled in the paint on both sides of the ball. The defense allowed Georgetown to shoot 8-9 from the field, giving them a five-point lead at the midway point of the first half. The Hoyas would also outscore the Wildcats by nearly double in paint points.
With 3:48 remaining in the half, Malachi Moreno would drain a deep three-pointer to get the fans back on their feet; however, the defense would just as quickly allow the Hoyas to score once again, putting them up 4032 heading into a timeout.
Noah opened the scoring early for Kentucky, coming out of the timeout, putting up a three to try to cut down the deficit. Unfortunately, Georgetown showed no signs of mercy and kept finding the net on almost every drive.
Kentucky would find itself down 46-39 heading into the half. Oweh would lead the Cats in scoring with eight points, compared to Georgetown’s Malik Mack, who led the Hoyas with 14.
The Hoyas outscored the Wildcats 24-12, and Georgetown capitalized on points off turnovers, totaling 11 points to UK’s four.
However, Kentucky would end the half finding great success from the three-point line, shooting 41% as a team, with seven different players scoring from beyond the arc.
The second half would continue to have the Cats in a scoring drought, while Georgetown quickly scored four points in the first two minutes.
Garrison gave Kentucky its first points of the half; however, it was Chandler who reignited the fire in BBN, slamming a dunk to cut the lead to 12 heading into a timeout.
Coming out of the break, Jelavic would find the net to continue the Wildcat’s offensive momentum, but back-to-back personal fouls on Kentucky would allow Georgetown to push its lead.
Through the first seven minutes of the half, the Wildcats totaled only seven points while shooting 2-9 from the field and an even more underwhelming 0% from the three. Kentucky would also tally seven turnovers, giving them no chance of cutting into the double-digit point lead.
Georgetown’s offense, while outscoring the Cats overall, wasn’t having much better a time on the court. Throughout the same period, the Hoyas were struggling to capitalize on Kentucky turnovers, shooting a measly 1-7 from the field and entering a scoring drought alongside the Wildcats.
With eight minutes remaining in the game, Kentucky cut the lead down to ten, putting up nine points in two minutes. Unfortunately, fouls on the defensive side continued to disrupt any offensive momentum from the start.
On the offensive side, the UK had yet to score a three-pointer in the second half, taking a near 180 from its success in the first 15 minutes, and had shot 0% from 10 attempts heading into the five-minute mark.
Georgetown continues dominating in the paint, shooting 11-19 from the field and picking up 12 points off just layovers. Kentucky, on the other hand, would only shoot 4-20 with six total points off layups with only five minutes to go.
The Wildcats didn’t back down from the fight, but their efforts to change the game’s script were unsuccessful, as they continued to struggle to make shots of any kind, while fouls allowed Georgetown to keep pulling away.
With four minutes left in the game, Kentucky found itself down by 12, and it became a now-or-never situation for the Wildcats if they wanted to pull off the win.
Even with the offensive efforts in the final few minutes, pulling off the win would become a never situation for the Cats.
The Wildcats will return to Rupp Arena on Tuesday, Nov. 4, to face Nicholls in Kentucky’s first official game of the 2025-26 season. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. EST and will be aired live on ESPN+ and SEC Network+.
