Collin Chandler made ANOTHER huge play down the stretch for Kentucky

When in doubt, just give the ball to Collin Chandler.

Kentucky’s sophomore guard came up clutch once again for the Wildcats, this time helping his team take down John Calipari and No. 15 Arkansas 85-77 in Fayetteville. After a 4-0 run from the Razorbacks made it a six-point game with 1:21 to go in regulation, head coach Mark Pope subbed in Chandler for the first time in nearly 10 minutes.

With under 10 seconds left on the shot clock, Chandler received an inbounds pass in the backcourt, quickly burned Arkansas freshman guard Meleek Thomas on his way to the rim, stopped on a dime just outside of the paint, and nailed a turnaround jumper right before the buzzer went off. That shot gave Kentucky an 82-74 lead, more than enough of a cushion for the ‘Cats to seal the win at the free-throw line the rest of the way.

“Collin loves the moment,” Pope told Tom Leach on postgame radio. “And then he came in and saved us the last two minutes, made another huge shot late in the shot clock. Huge shot… I thought he was brilliant down the stretch.”

Chandler’s ability to halt his momentum at the last second, which got Arkansas forward Trevon Brazile to jump in the air, gave him enough space for a clean look over the outstretched arm of Thomas. Buckets.

BIG TIME SHOT, COLLIN CHANDLER 🤩

📺 – ESPN pic.twitter.com/X5AHiLm5yQ

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) February 1, 2026

This type of moment wasn’t anything new for Chandler, either. In fact, this was the fourth time in six games that the Utah native has made game-securing plays down the stretch for his team.

It started back on Jan. 14 in Baton Rouge against LSU, when Chandler threw the touchdown pass to Malachi Moreno, who hit the game-winning buzzer-beater to down the Tigers after Kentucky trailed by as many as 18 points in the second half. A game later, Chandler’s steal and pass to Otega Oweh for an and-one sealed Kentucky’s comeback win over Tennessee in Knoxville. Then, against Ole Miss last week in Rupp Arena, his deep three-pointer gave Kentucky a six-point lead with under a minute to go.

And that’s not counting the 14 second-half points he poured in against Texas at home in the game before facing the Rebels, also a win for UK. When Pope has needed someone outside of Oweh to step up, Chandler has consistently answered the call as of late.

Keep in mind that Chandler did all this after losing his starting spot, too. He was in Kentucky’s starting five for the first 14 games of the season before a poor performance on the road against Alabama. The next time out, he saw just five minutes in a loss to Missouri in what was his first game off the bench. But he’s been playing great basketball ever since, even moving back into the starting five over the last three games. Kam Williams‘ broken foot certainly helped push Chandler back into starter minutes, but Chandler has been making the most of every second.

Against Arkansas, Chandler finished with 13 points on 5-9 shooting (2-4 3PT) in 23 minutes. He’s now scored 12 or more points in four of his last five outings. Good things tend to happen when he has the ball in his hands during key moments.

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