Kentucky was 7-0 under first-year coach Mark Pope before falling to Clemson
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Clemson upset No. 4 Kentucky 70-66 in the final game of the ACC/SEC Challenge on Tuesday. The Tigers handed the Wildcats their first loss of the Mark Pope era after the program started the 2024-25 season 7-0 in Year 1 of his tenure.
Clemson star big man Ian Schieffelin scored 11 points and added 20 rebounds in the victory. Schieffelin was one of seven Clemson players to score at least six points. The Tigers helped the ACC avoid the shutout on Day 1 of the event with the upset win. The SEC had a perfect 9-0 mark against the ACC before Clemson handed the conference its lone loss.
Clemson took a 37-30 lead into halftime the locker room and held off a late rally from Kentucky. Kentucky guard Lamont Butler knocked down a 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left to cut the deficit to two, but Clemson’s Chase Hunter knocked down two free throws to seal the win. Kentucky guard Otega Oweh scored a team-high 17 points, while Butler added 16.
Kentucky shot 7 of 27 (25%) as a team from the 3-point line and scored a season-low 66 points. The Wildcats came into the day as the top-scoring offense in Division l basketball at 96.7 points per game.
The Wildcats opened the season with wins over Wright State, Bucknell, Lipscomb, Jackson State, Western Kentucky, Georgia State and Duke. This week marked the first true road game for the new-look Wildcats under Pope after playing games at Rupp Arena and neutral sites during the first month of the season. Pope, who played for Kentucky and most recently coached at BYU, took over for John Calipari after he bolted for Arkansas after a 15-year stay in Lexington.
Kentucky (7-1) will travel to Spokane, Washington, to face No. 7 Gonzaga next on Saturday. Clemson (8-1) faces Miami on the road on Saturday.
ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge scores
- No. 3 Tennessee 96, Syracuse 70
- No. 21 Oklahoma 76, Georgia Tech 61
- No. 22 Texas A&M 57, Wake Forest 44
- No. 23 Ole Miss 86, Louisville 63
- Arkansas 76, Miami 73
- Georgia 69, Notre Dame 48
- Missouri 98, Cal 93
- South Carolina 73, Boston College 51
- LSU 85, Florida State 75
- Clemson 70, No. 4 Kentucky 66
