With 11 minutes remaining in the first half, Denzel Aberdeen took a shot from the far corner, draining a three-pointer. It was the first field goal Kentucky scored all night, with only two free throws making up the rest of the Cats’ five total points.

However, two back-to-back missed threes followed, and the Cats found themselves down 21-5 with 9:30 remaining in the first half.

Turnovers, miscommunications and missed shots became the theme for one of the worst games Kentucky basketball has played in recent history.

Two weeks into December, No. 18 Kentucky men’s basketball (5-4) found itself without a single ranked win through eight games.

Kentucky had lost all three of its marquee ranked matchups so far this season, falling 96-88 at No. 12 Louisville, 83-66 against No. 17 Michigan State in the State Farm Champions Classic and, most recently, 67-64 to No. 16 North Carolina on Tuesday in the ACC/SEC Challenge.

Kentucky had yet another opportunity to secure its first big win of the season, but would inevitably fall 94-59 to No. 11 Gonzaga (8-1) in Bridgestone Arena for Music City Madness.

Entering the game, Kentucky was averaging an underwhelming 33.3% from the three-point line. The bigger concern came Tuesday, when the Cats finished just 8% from deep on 13 attempts.

Those same struggles lingered early. Kentucky took four three-pointers in the first five minutes — and missed all of them. It wasn’t until the 15-minute mark that Kentucky finally scored, and it came on a free throw.

In the offseason, Kentucky built its offense around star point guard Jaland Lowe, but a shoulder injury has kept him out for most of the season. He finally returned tonight, checking in five minutes after tipoff. Unfortunately for the Cats, he wasn’t able to provide the offensive spark they’ve been missing.

Six minutes into the game, the Cats were still without a field goal, with only two free throws on the board.

Turnovers in transition kept the ball with Gonzaga, and a 6-0 scoring run pushed the Bulldogs ahead 15-2 with 13 minutes left in the first half.

Two more back-to-back missed threes continued Kentucky’s drought. Halfway through the opening half, the Cats still didn’t have a single field goal, were 0-for-6 from three and 0-for-3 from the field.

After Aberdeen put a three on the board with 11 minutes left in the first, the Cats entered another offensive dry spell. The Florida transfer once again gave them life with a layup and free throw, moving Kentucky’s point total to eight.

Garrison added a three of his own to send the fully packed stands of Bridgestone Arena to their feet, and the Cats cut the deficit to 23-11 heading into a timeout.

Mistakes in transition and more missed shots allowed the Zags to extend their lead, and another scoring run forced Mark Pope to take a timeout with 5:44 left and the Wildcats trailing 30-11.

By the end of the half, Kentucky found only two more field goals — a Collin Chandler three-pointer and an Otega Oweh layup. The Cats added two more points from Oweh’s free throws.

The Wildcats finished the half shooting 15% from three (3-for-20) and just 16% from the field overall.

Oweh opened up the second half by draining a wide-open three, but once again, two missed back-to-back shots from beyond the arc would kill the offensive momentum before it even started. 

The defense got hot for Kentucky, stalling the Zags offensively and giving the Wildcats more opportunities to score, but they would continue to fall short at the basket. 

After another scoring drought, Kentucky found life with two three-pointers from Trent Noah and Jasper Johnson, but the Cats were still down 61-36.

The Cats continued to find the basket for the first time of the night, adding two more baskets to cut the Zags’ lead down to 26. 

Unfortunately, the offense sparks were simply not long-lasting or consistent enough to keep the Wildcats in the game, and the blue-and-white began filing out of the stands with over seven minutes left on the clock.

The final 12 minutes of the second half were the most productive the Cats had all night, finding 19 points in just six minutes. 

Chandler would slam down his second poster-worthy dunk of the season with a little over three minutes remaining in the half, but the excitement was short-lived as the Cats found themselves down by 31.

The late rally cut the point deficit down, but became yet another case of too little, too late for the Cats and another agonizing double-digit loss to a top-ranked foe. 

Kentucky finished the night shooting 20.6 percent from the three and 26.7 percent from the field. The Wildcats move to 0-4 on the season against ranked opponents. 

The Cats return to action next Tuesday, Dec. 9, facing North Carolina Central (3-7) inside Rupp Arena. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. EST and the game will air live on SEC Network.