Big Boo Nation: Kentucky fans let Cats hear it, 3 teams have case for No. 1

When playing a neutral-site game, it’s tough dealing with the opposing team fans taking over the arena, booing you endlessly. But it’s much worse when that booing is coming from your own fan base.

That was the case in Nashville on Friday, Dec. 5, when Big Blue Nation was disgusted with what it witnessed. It took Kentucky nine minutes to make a shot. By the time that happened, Gonzaga was already up 19-5. The boos rained down for the majority of the night as the Bulldogs routed the Wildcats by 35 points, the fourth-largest loss in program history.

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Now Kentucky is in serious trouble.

The loss to Gonzaga came on the heels of the home collapse against short-handed North Carolina, when Kentucky went more than 10 minutes without a made shot to keep the Tar Heels alive. UNC took advantage and escaped Rupp Arena with a win.

The Wildcats are 5-4, and its an ugly record. The five wins all against mid-major competition. The four losses against ranked opponents, and three of them were hardly competitive.

It’s already disaster time in Lexington and we’re not even 10 games into the season. Mark Pope has to be feeling his seat getting warmer.

This is a team that was top-10 in recruiting and in the transfer portal, yet it can’t shoot against good teams. This season, the Wildcats are shooting 47.4% from the field and 31.9% from deep. But against Power conference teams, they’re just 38.2% from the field and 24.3% from 3-point land.

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It all falls on Pope, and he’s aware.

“All the boos that we heard tonight were incredibly well-deserved, mostly for me,” Pope said after the Gonzaga loss.

Things have to change quickly because it won’t get easier. Indiana and St. John’s are still on the schedule before the SEC gauntlet starts.

The demise of the Wildcats headlines the past weekend of college hoops. Here’s more that caught my eye:

Iowa State’s emphatic statement

Not only did Iowa State beat No. 1 Purdue, the Cyclones completely manhandled the Boilermakers. Iowa State continued its…

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Publish date : 2025-12-08 10:08:00

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