Kentucky’s Defense Vanishes in Shocking Exhibition Loss to Georgetown—What Went Wrong?

LEXINGTON — So, Kentucky’s hardwood squad just took a 14-point hit against Georgetown in what was, let’s not kid ourselves here, an exhibition game. Yep, the kind that doesn’t touch the official record books—but boy, it still leaves you wondering. Missing two key guards and arguably their top NBA hopeful forward, the Wildcats were clearly limping before the tip-off. Even with a roster that looks deep on paper, that night exposed some glaring defensive flaws that Coach Mark Pope has been itching to fix after last season. The Hoyas weren’t just knocking down shots—they were practically strolling into the paint unchallenged, flipping the script on a team that had almost a decade-long unbeaten streak in exhibitions. It’s preseason, sure, but the questions this loss raises aren’t going away anytime soon. LEARN MORE

LEXINGTON — Let’s get this out of the way first: Kentucky basketball‘s 84-70 loss to Georgetown on Thursday was an exhibition.

Let’s repeat it once more, for emphasis: Thursday was an exhibition.

A final time, slowly: Thursday. Was. An. Exhibition.

One also would be remiss not to note UK was down a pair of projected starters (guards Denzel Aberdeen and Jaland Lowe) as well as potentially a third starter perceived as its best NBA prospect (forward Jayden Quaintance).

Ultimately, this was a preseason contest that won’t count against the Wildcats‘ final record in 2025-26.

That’s the good news.

Yet areas of concern were exposed during the 14-point setback, which snapped a 34-game win streak for Kentucky in exhibitions (dating to 2014) and was its largest margin of defeat in any exhibition outing since losing to the Soviet Union by 29 points in January 1991.

The most conspicous issue Thursday: defense. An aspect Mark Pope has harped on since the end of last season, vowing his group would be much improved over the 2024-25 edition where defense, while making progress over time, was far from a strength.

The raw numbers Thursday: Georgetown made more than half of its shots (31 for 56; 55.4%) despite going just 5 of 16 (31.3%) on 3s. That’s because the Hoyas did most of their damage inside the 3-point arc. And particularly in the paint, where they scored 3X points.

It’s not simply that Georgetown shot it well. It’s that so many of its attempts were not even challenged, with no UK defender nearby. There also were numerous times the visitors drove right by the Wildcats on the way to the basket — or lost a Hoya as he was cutting to the basket, offering an uncontested two points at the rim.

That should change whenever Quaintance, a shot-blocking phenom as a 17-year-old freshman last season at Arizona State, is cleared to play following an ACL injury.

The overall communication also should grow in leaps and bounds when Aberdeen and Lowe — a senior and junior, respectively — are back in the backcourt, shouting out instructions to their younger teammates.

Even as deep as Kentucky’s roster appears to be on paper, it wasn’t enough to topple a rough-and-tumble Big East outfit, one that had never lost to the Wildcats in two prior meetings.

The Hoyas still can say that after Thursday’s victory.

This story will be updated.