Kentucky goes ice cold in second quarter in 64-53 loss at Texas

After what was truly a heartbreaker against Vanderbilt on Thursday, Kentucky had to make the turnaround to face a top five Texas team on the road. The Longhorns entered Monday night 22-2 with losses to only LSU and South Carolina, both of which came on the road. The Longhorns were seeking their 40th straight win in the Moody Center. It wasn’t impossible by no means, but Kentucky needed to be playing at their peak to upset Texas in Austin.

That didn’t happen, however, as Kentucky lost 64-53 to the Longhorns, falling to 18-7 overall and 5-6 in the SEC. The Cats have now lost five of their last six games.

Kentucky shot north of 50% in the first quarter, but on the other end of the floor, they allowed Texas to shoot 71%. The Longhorns made 10 of their first 14 shots to start the game, and Kentucky needed to buckle up defensively if they wanted to keep pace with the No. 4 team in the country. Through one, Kentucky trailed 23-19.

After Asia Boone shot Kentucky back into the game to knot things up at 28 apiece, Kentucky proceeded to not score another point for the final 7:07 of the first half. They committed seven turnovers in that span, and Texas led 38-28 at the break. The Longhorns were playing well, but not out of their minds. Kentucky just continued to repeatedly shoot itself in the foot.

However, Kentucky showed a great deal of fight in the third, even winning the quarter by three. Texas didn’t make a shot for the last 3:56 of the third, but Kentucky couldn’t close the gap totally. The Longhorns were playing just as well defensively. With 10 minutes left to go, the Cats were down 48-41.

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Kentucky fought until the end, even making it 49-48 at one point, but they just couldn’t edge out the win. Texas’ winning streak at home continues.

Next time out, the Cats will look to defend home court against Texas A&M. The Aggies are currently 9-10 overall and 2-8 in the SEC. They had lost six consecutive games before knocking off Alabama 72-69 in their last game. That one is set for Thursday at 6:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network.