It looks like the holiday mood is getting to everyone. After spending another week in the top 5 of the AP poll, the Kentucky Wildcats seem to have lost a bit of their fire. Their latest loss to unranked Ohio State was a bit of a shock, as the team couldn’t seem to find their “juice”, as coach Mark Pope would put it, and forgot not just their defense but also their offense. Analysts have some possible thoughts on why.

On The Field of 68: After Dark, Rob Dauster suggests the loss might have been a consequence of taking it too easy. Ohio State has not had the best record this season, losing three of their last five games before facing the Wildcats.

The UK was understandably confident as Dauster pointed out, “If you’re Kentucky, you’re sitting here at 10-1, you’re top 5 in America, you’re playing an Ohio State team that’s been getting their brains beaten in for the last couple of weeks, and it’s only human nature that this is kind of how it plays out.”

“They didn’t shoot the ball well, that is very clear.” In the 85-65 game, Ohio State’s 24 first-half points were in the paint. Conversely, Kentucky had 36 points in the paint but the Buckeyes were too dominant in the beginning as well as at the end. Per the Courier-Journal, OSU set a season record for a Kentucky opponent in field-goal percentage (56.6; 30 of 53) and points per possession (1.349).

Dauster continued, “I was much more concerned with how sloppy they were offensively…especially in the first half, missed defensive rotations. This is a team that is not going to overwhelm you with talent like other Kentucky teams have in the past. They gotta show up and they gotta be where they’re supposed to be. They gotta run their stuff the right way.”

The horrible offense actually reminded some of former coach John Calipari’s tactics, which involved wild drives to the basket and errant shots that did not make it. There was no actual structure but more of a reliance on athleticism and offensive rebounds. Having 4-of-22 from beyond the arc and 29.8% shooting from the field to show for the night at Madison Square Garden would anger anyone.

“You’re not loaded with pros…it’s not the same kind of Kentucky team,” as Dauster pointed out. But where the offense lacked, defense was no better for Pope’s team.

Mark Pope acknowledges Kentucky fell “really short”

While Mark Pope was the first one to hand his flowers to Ohio State after the game, crediting them for the night with congratulations, he knew his Wildcats had messed up.

“There’s a lot of ways we can get a lot better. I felt like our guys were trying to find some juice, find some energy, find some fight. We just fell really short,” the coach said.

Also acknowledging that the team would be losing sleep over this game because it happened just before the break, Pope also pointed out, “I needed to help these guys more on the defensive end and we just couldn’t find an answer there.”

Even Ohio State freshman guard John Mobley Jr. knew the Buckeyes had the Wildcats in the palm of their hands as he reviewed their ‘attack-mode’ game plan after their win. Both teams tried their best at the free throw line but at the end of 40 minutes, the scoreboard read not in favor of the No. 4 ranked team.