The game was tied 40-40 at halftime and 11-all before the lead changed and Kentucky basketball went on a 19-9 run in less than five minutes of the second half to pull away from Texas. It was a different game as Kentucky defeated Texas 85-80 on Wednesday night at Rupp Stadium.
Denzel Aberdeen, who scored 19 points for the Wildcats, hit six free throws in the final minute to help the Wildcats preserve the victory.
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This is no walk in the park for Kentucky. Texas is a very strong team and they showed a lot of fight on Wednesday night.
But the Wildcats ended up winning their fourth straight game, shooting 30-for-35 from the free throw line.
first half
Andrija Jelavić started at the four for Kentucky tonight and he quickly scored four points to get the Wildcats going early.
The first half was a fierce battle, with the two teams scoring alternately and entering the locker room with a score of 40-40. Neither team led by more than five points, with 11 ties and eight lead changes.
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Kentucky enters Wednesday night’s game having trailed by at least 12 points in the first half of each of its past three games. Against Texas, the Wildcats never trailed by more than three points in the first half, shooting 41.7% from the field and 7-of-8 from the free throw line.
Otega Oweh went all out, reaching double digits with less than 12 minutes to play and putting Texas 7-foot big man Matas Vokietatitis on the poster with a powerful baseline-breaking dunk.
Malachi Moreno dominated the stat sheet in the first 20 minutes in his first home start since LSU’s buzzer-beater last Wednesday. Moreno had 6 points, 3 rebounds (all offensive), a team-high 3 assists and 2 blocks.
second half
Kentucky got off to a strong start in the second half, getting some high-percentage shots in the first four minutes to extend the lead to six points.
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The crunch moment came with just over 10 minutes left in the second half when Texas’ Simeon Wilcher fouled Kentucky’s Otega Oweh.
With the Wildcats leading 57-56, Owe hit two free throws and then passed to Malachi Moreno on Kentucky’s inbounds pass. Moreno was fouled in mid-air and made two free throws to extend Kentucky’s lead to 61-56.
These four free throws were just the beginning of a 19-9 climax.
box score
MVP: Colin Chandler
It’s not even known if Chandler will play in Wednesday night’s game because he got sick before the game. But like Ortega Owe last Wednesday at LSU, whatever ailment Chandler has isn’t bothering him. He came out and had a great game, especially in the second half.
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Don’t look at it now, Chandler was full of confidence when he played. With Cam Williams leaving tonight’s game with a foot injury (this story had not been updated at the time of publication), Chandler immediately stepped in and delivered a huge performance. Next man up; this team embodies that mantra. Chandler was the definition of Wednesday night.
Chandler tied Ortega Owe with a team-high 18 points and tied for a team-high 7 rebounds and 2 steals. On top of that, he went 6-for-6 from the free throw line.
Highlights
Kentucky vs. Texas Twitter Reactions
It was a tense few hours for the Big Blue team on Wednesday night (When are the Kentucky basketball games going to be played) no Feeling pressure? ). Here are some of the best reactions from Kentucky fans on Twitter.