11 days ago, Kentucky ran into adversity for the very first time all season long.
In what was the true road-opener on the 2021-22 schedule, the Wildcats were smacked around by a Notre Dame squad that played above its weight. Kentucky infamously shot 2-19 from beyond the arc, lost by four in front of a packed crowd of Fighting Irish fanatics, and received plenty of criticism for it–a lot of it justified.
UK had only been challenged in the first game of the year against Duke in Madison Square Garden, then playing seven “tune-up” games in a row at Rupp Arena where the average margin of victory was in the mid-20s.