Mark Pope explains how Louisville shut down Otega Oweh on Tuesday

The Kentucky Wildcats got punched in the mouth on Tuesday when they faced the Louisville Cardinals on the road, as Kentucky got off to a rough defensive start. But. that poor defensive effort translated to not only a terrific offensive showing from Louisville, but defensively too, as that energy translated to both ends all night.

There was a couple of pivotal stretches in the game where the Wildcats just couldn't help themselves by forcing shots, but that was a testiment to Louisville's matching aggression on the defensive end. Kentucky's percentages weren't bad, shooting it at 47.1 percent overall and 12-34 from deep, but it was their poor assist-turnover ratio of 14-14 that really played a huge factor in the struggles. Among those struggles was star guard Otega Oweh, who Kentucky really needed to produce in a high-level game like that. Oweh had 12 points on 4-13 shooting and 1-6 from three, along with five turnovers. It was certainly one of his works games as a Wildcat.

Mark Pope detailed after the game just how the Cardinals were able to get to him and make him a non-factor. "I thought they were physical with him. I thought they brought a crowd. They did everything we didn't do. They were really good at bringing a crowd, making him play through multiple defenders. ...We were really sticky with the ball. You know, the 20 to 6 compared to the 14-14 tells the whole story of the game. There's a lot of fast to the game where it got to that, but we're going to lose the 20-6 14-14, game. We're just going to lose it and it's a credit to Louisville for playing the game the right way. And we got punished for not playing it the right way."

Kentucky really struggled with their defensive principles, especially in transition, not getting back quick enough and leaving open looks for some of Louisville's best shooters. But offensively, they needed its star to show up against the Cards, but he was basically shut down, and it speaks to how aggressive Louisville's defense was. They did a good job with the principles, which Kentucky struggled in. Discipline was an issue, and it was one of the biggest reasons why Oweh was unable to get going. What Louisville did with Oweh, trapping him and really never leaving his sight, is exactly what Kentucky was unable to do with Mikel Brown Jr., who had 29 points on the night.

Oweh has had scoring splits of 13-15-13 so far this season, and really hasn't shown that elite scoring ability that he had last season. The 6-5 guard had that spark where he could take over in a flash. Kentucky will need that Oweh, who had a long streak of double-digit games, or they'll be facing a lot more struggles like Tuesday. Oweh was the SEC Player of the Year favorite, but he hasn't been backing that up through the first three games.