Mark Pope wants to 'dig deeper' into Kentucky's rotation after loss to UNC

Kentucky was searching once again for a victory against a quality opponent after getting embarrassed in their first two top 25 matchups. Unlike those, the Wildcats were in control for a good portion of the game, hanging right with North Carolina after every turn the physical rock right took. Kentucky showed a lot of aggressiveness, but that all went down the drain in the second half after a massive 13-minute stretch where they only made two of their last 16 field goals, which led to the two-point loss.

This one hurt, because Kentucky needed it bad with chances to build their resume continuing to slip away. It wasn't just that stretch late that hurt the Wildcats, it was also the shooting and rebounding numbers. Kentucky somehow managed to stay right with the Tarheels by making just one three in the entire game, as well as getting outrebounded 41-30, giving up a season-high 20 offensive rebounds for North Carolina that resulted in 22 second-chance points. Kentucky finished with just eight assists to nine turnovers. That was the story, and the late collapse is when all caught up to them.

Mark Pope cited after the game that were may have been some fatigue issues, which then prompted him to say he wants to dig deeper and find more "quality minutes" within the rotation. "I'm gonna have to find a way to kind of dig deeper into this rotation, get some quality minutes. That's gonna be something really important us as we move forward. So, there's a lot we have to learn." Speaking of the rotation and things that point to fatigue issues, Kentucky had four players play over 30 minutes, with Denzel Aberdeen (35), Collin Chandler (34) and Otega Oweh (33) all playing the most minutes, and a lot down the stretch. Kentucky may have had fatigue, but that's still a major problem that Kentucky faces, especially when they had a 9-man rotation even without three players.

It's clear Kentucky is searching for answers with the rotation and minutes still, and without a healthy starting point guard who is a huge part in the team's flow, it's hard to find anything to lean on, but they need some guys to step up from the bench more consistently, and Andrija Jelavic's play was a good start on Tuesday, as he did well guarding Caleb Wilson when he was in the game. The team's rebounding was a struggle, and Mo Dioubate would be a big part in helping that, but the shooting numbers continue to be concerning, and Tuesday's game was the worst example of it.

Kentucky's offense struggled up until the poor stretch to end the second half, but that stretch summed up how the Wildcats barely had answers aside from scoring in the paint, because North Carolina took advantage down the stretch capitalizing on the stagnant offense from the Wildcats. Now, Pope continues to search for answers after another top 25 loss.