5 things you need to know from Kentucky’s 84-70 exhibition loss vs. Georgetown
Five things you need to know from No. 9 Kentucky’s 84-70 loss to Georgetown in an NCAA men’s college basketball exhibition game:
1. Point guards matter. For its second exhibition of 2025-26, not only was Kentucky down presumptive starting point guard JaIand Lowe for the second straight game, but UK also played without its second “lead guard,” Denzel Aberdeen.
Prior to the game, Mark Pope told the UK Sports Network’s Tom Leach that Aberdeen, a transfer from Florida, was dealing with “a little leg issue” and would be held out of the exhibition with Collin Chandler starting in his place. Pope added that he did not expect Aberdeen’s leg injury to be a long-term concern.
That’s good, because without Aberdeen, the Kentucky offensive operation was far less fluid than it appeared against Purdue in the exhibition opener.
In building a 46-39 halftime lead, coach Ed Cooley’s Hoyas routinely got easier shots than did UK, outscoring the Cats in the paint 24-12. The Hoyas shot 10 layups in half one, and made nine.
For the game, Georgetown was plus-14, 38-24, on points in the paint.
Meanwhile, defensively, Kentucky could not stay in front of Georgetown guards Malik Mack (22 points) and KJ Lewis (19).
Not that this is any revelation, but UK obviously needs Aberdeen and Lowe — or at least one of them — on the court to be the team the Big Blue Nation expects.
2. A Pope-era trend? Last season, in Mark Pope’s debut campaign as top Cat, Kentucky won a school record eight games against teams ranked in the top 15 of the AP poll.
The Wildcats finished “only” 24-12, however, because they struggled in games against teams with more middling rankings.
In this season’s two exhibition contests, it was more of the same.
Kentucky throttled preseason No. 1 Purdue 78-65 in its exhibition opener but was whacked by a Georgetown squad that was tabbed sixth in the Big East preseason poll.
3. An unpleasant Calipari era throwback. Against Georgetown, Kentucky shot free throws like John Calipari was still on the sidelines — and this was an NCAA Tournament game, not an exhibition.
UK finished 23 of 35 from the line.
Kentucky shot decently on free throws in its exhibition opener vs. Purdue, going 9-for-13, so the sample size is too miniscule for worry yet.
Still, the free-throw shooting “problem” from Thursday night would be a good thing to nip in the bud.
4. Kentucky sees long win streak in exhibitions end. The loss to Georgetown snapped a 34-game exhibition win streak for UK.
Prior to Thursday night, the last time the Wildcats lost in an exhibition was Aug. 17, 2014, a 63-62 loss to the Dominican Republic National Team in Nassau, Bahamas.
All-time, Kentucky is now 155-13 in exhibition games.
The matchup with Georgetown was the third time in UK men’s basketball history that the Wildcats have played an NCAA Division I opponent in an exhibition game.
On Oct. 30, 2017, Kentucky beat Morehead State 92-67 in a game the NCAA sanctioned as a charitable fundraiser.
Last Friday, the No. 9 Wildcats beat No. 1 Purdue 78-65 in the first exhibition of the season for both teams.
5. Ghosts of 1984. For well-seasoned Kentucky backers, the site of the Wildcats on the court with the Georgetown Hoyas might have created post-traumatic stress disorder.
Prior to Thursday night, the last time UK played Georgetown yielded one of the most infamous losses in Kentucky’s storied men’s hoops history.
On March 31, 1984, a Wildcats team led by twin towers Sam Bowie and Melvin Turpin faced off in the NCAA Tournament Final Four against a Georgetown squad anchored by Patrick Ewing in Seattle.
The first half went well for UK, with Joe B. Hall’s Cats taking a 29-22 lead into halftime.
Alas, the second half was an all-time Kentucky nightmare.
Over the final 20 minutes of a Final Four game, UK made only three field goals.
The Wildcats’ horrid 3-for-33 shooting turned that 29-22 halftime lead into a 53-40 loss to John Thompson’s Hoyas — who went on to beat Houston 84-75 to win the 1984 NCAA championship.
On Thursday night, it wasn’t that bad — but it wasn’t that far off.
UK did not hit its third field goal of the second half until a Mouhamed Dioubate layup with 10:07 left in the game. The Cats didn’t get their fourth made bucket of half two until Jasper Johnson sank a trey from the right corner with 6:18 to play.
The Cats finished 7-for-29 from the floor, 0-for-13 on 3point tries, in half two.
This story was originally published October 30, 2025 at 9:16 PM.
