LIVE BLOG: Kentucky vs. Texas

FINAL: Kentucky 85, Texas 80

Phew! The Cats hang on to win their fourth straight, beating Texas 85-80. It’s the first time in the Mark Pope era that the Cats have won four consecutive SEC games.

Not hitting a field goal in the final 5:48 was not ideal, but Kentucky held out to win a game it needed to. Denzel Aberdeen led the Cats in scoring with 19 points, followed by Collin Chandler and Otega Oweh with 18 points each. Fourteen of Chandler’s points came in the second half, a gutsy performance from the sophomore, who is battling a stomach bug.

Now, we wait to hear about Kam Williams’ injury.

8.9 2H: Kentucky 83, Texas 80

Mo Dioubate has played well this half, but he just committed one of the cardinal sins when you have a lead in the final seconds: a foul. After Denzel Aberdeen hit a free throw to push the lead to five, Mo fouled Jordan Pope, who hit both free throws to cut the lead to three with 8.9 seconds left. Sean Miller just called his last timeout.

Hold on to your butts

Just like that, it’s a 4-point game. A turnover by Denzel Aberdeen led to a score by Tramont Mark. Aberdeen drew a foul and hit one of two free throws, but Mark hit another bucket on the next possession to cut the lead to two. Aberdeen just hit two more free throws to move it back to four with 26.7 seconds remaining.

26.7 2H: Kentucky 82, Texas 78

1:58 2H: Kentucky 79, Texas 74

It’s back to a five-point game with just under two minutes to go. Otega Owe is back in the game with four fouls. Kentucky hasn’t hit a field goal in almost four minutes…

3:51 2H: Kentucky 77, Texas 67

The Cats are up 10 at the under-four timeout. Coming out of it, the Longhorns will have a short shot clock after some inspired defense by Mo Dioubate, who drew a foul on Kentucky’s last possession, hitting one of two free throws.

Kentucky’s in good shape, but needs to keep its foot on the gas and clamp down on defense to close this one out.

Collin Chandler’s Flu Game?!

Take my last comments and double them. Chandler is on another level right now, scoring seven points since my last update to push Kentucky’s lead to 76-65 with 5:41 and prompt Sean Miller to call a timeout. He’s scored 14 of Kentucky’s last 15 points, and to take his total to a career-high 18. All while battling a stomach bug.

Collin Chandler is superhuman

Collin Chandler missed shootaround with a stomach bug, but you wouldn’t know it by his play tonight. He’s scored Kentucky’s last seven points to push the lead to eight. He can make it double digits with a pair of free throws after this timeout, following a foul on Matas Vokietaitis. Chandler is up to 11 points and six rebounds, one of three Cats in double figures.

7:33 2H: Kentucky 68, Texas 60

Kam Williams ruled OUT

We never got to see a replay of the play Kam Williams was injured on, but Tom Leach is reporting via UK that Williams will be out the rest of the game with an injured foot.

Flagrant 1 foul on Texas

Mark Pope listened to me coming out of that timeout and put both Malachi Moreno and Andrija Jelavic back in to instant success. Jelavic hit a bucket to give Kentucky the lead again and Moreno blocked a three-point shot by Simeon Wilcher. He passed it ahead to Otega Oweh, who was fouled by Wilcher. After a review, it was upgraded to a Flagrant 1 foul.

Oweh made both free throws to put the Cats up by three, 59-56, wtih 10:18 remaining.

Texas takes the lead

Everything was going so well. Mo Dioubate got a tough and-one to push Kentucky’s lead to six with 13:06 left, but Texas responded, with Chendall Weaver scoring four straight and Dailyn Swain hitting a three to take the lead at the under-12 timeout. The Longhorns are on a 7-0 run over the last 1:46.

Malachi Moreno is still on the bench with three fouls. It might be time to put him back in.

10:53 2H: Texas 56, Kentucky 55

15:55 2H: Kentucky 48, Texas 44

Kentucky leads by four at the first media timeout, but the Cats are in the midst of a 2-minute scoring drought and have made some costly turnovers. Brandon Garrison just picked up a foul, his first and Kentucky’s fourth this half. Malachi Moreno is on the bench with three fouls, not what you want to see after his promising play so far this game. No sign of Kam Williams yet either.

A frustrating stat: the Cats are just 3-10 on layups tonight. Gotta take care of the easy ones around the rim.

Kam Williams checks out with an injury

One second, Kam Williams was shooting free throws, and the next, he was hobbling down the court. Williams checked out and went straight to the locker room with just over 18 minutes to go. It’s not really clear what happened, but hopefully, the sharpshooter is okay.

The good news is, Kentucky leads by six points, 48-42, with 17:38 remaining.

HALFTIME: Kentucky 40, Texas 40

Trading baskets there to end the half will bring us to a tie at the break, Kentucky and Texas even at 40-40 through 20 minutes. We’ll take it after the last week for these Wildcats.

Individually, it’s the Otega Oweh and Denzel Aberdeen show, both players scoring 10 points apiece, the former on 5-13 shooting and the latter on 4-8 with a pair of triples. Elsewhere, Malachi Moreno has six points, three rebounds and three assists, followed by Kam Williams with five points and Collin Chandler with four points and four rebounds. Andrija Jelavic only has two points, but leads the team with five boards in just eight minutes.

As a team, they’re shooting 41.7% overall (15-36), 25.0% from three (3-12) and 87.5% at the line (7-8). As for the Longhorns, they’re at 47/11/88 splits through 20 minutes.

Individually, it’s the Dailyn Swin show with 14 points, four rebounds and two assists, followed by Matas Vokietaitis with eight points and seven rebounds. Tramon Mark and Chendall Weaver have added six each, as well.

Kentucky will NOT go into halftime down double-figures

… and then they give up a 7-0 run in a minute

Cats are building some momentum

We love Otega Oweh posters!

Get rolling, TegaTron

Collin Chandler (sick) checks in at the 13:59 mark

Folks, we do NOT have a slow start!

Malachi Moreno is working with a BIG black eye

Welcome home, Wan’Dale Robinson!

Starting Lineups

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it? Kentucky is rolling with its usual starting lineup, with Kam Williams and Andrija Jelavic both in and Mo Dioubate and Collin Chandler coming off the bench.

Collin Chandler is warming up

Collin Chandler missed shootaround due to illness, but he’s warming up at Rupp Arena, suggesting he will give it a go tonight. He was not listed on the SEC Availability Report, meaning he is available.

Get ready for the Doug Shows Show

Fire up that replay monitor because Doug Shows is in the house tonight. According to Oscar Combs, Shows, KB Burkett, and Tony Chiazza will be tonight’s officials.

Get ready with KSR’s Walk and Talk

The weather outside is pretty gross, so Jack Pilgrim, Zack Geoghegan, and Jacob Polacheck are coming to you live from the Hyatt hallway to preview Kentucky vs. Texas in another KSR Walk and Talk, presented by Parlour Pizza.

How to Watch, Listen

The Cats are back on the SEC Network tonight, with Matt Schumacker and Richard Hendrix on the call. That duo called Kentucky’s win over Mississippi State earlier this month.