Walker Horn's quick-trigger shot-making is not new to Kentucky teammates: '(He) literally does that to us every day'

In his 18th career game as a Kentucky Wildcat, Walker Horn finally hit a shot and made a dent in the box score — and he did it in dramatic fashion, drilling an off-balanced buzzer-beater with 0.8 seconds left on the shot clock. After four long years in Lexington under two different head coaches, his hard work behind the scenes finally paid off in the form of a highlight he’ll likely be playing on a loop at his home until the end of time.

What if I told you, though, that the 3-pointer from the top of the key was nothing new for Horn, at least in the eyes of his teammates? As legend has it, the senior guard is actually a sniper in practice and those shots are the norm.

The stakes were just higher in a live game setting this time around, and he made the most of his chance.

“Walker, man — and the crazy thing is, what you all don’t see every day in practice, like him on scout team, he can play,” Trent Noah said of Horn’s dagger. “And he’s super heady, a coach’s son. No, he gets them up.”

“That was an amazing feeling,” Denzel Aberdeen added. “Walker literally does that to us every day in practice. He hits some big-time shots against us on the scout team.”

There are hot streaks Horn finds himself on that you have no choice but to take a step back and simply let him cook. With 0.8 seconds left on the shot clock with the Wildcats up by a million vs. Tennessee Tech, this was one of those moments.

His teammates are just glad it happened against someone else for a change. It’s something they’ve been trying to speak and play into existence, getting him five shot attempts this season alone after plenty of work at the Joe Craft Center.

After four misses, he finally got one to fall.

“100 percent, because he’ll be in practice, and we’ll be guarding him, and he’ll make a couple of threes. It was only a matter of time before he got out here and made one of his own,” Malachi Moreno added. “… I don’t know if there’s really like a Walker play drawn up — I feel like he’s just always in the right spot at the right time. He’s just making people pay for leaving him open.”

A pair of first career points for @walkerhorn_ and @z_tow12 to cap off the night 😸👏 pic.twitter.com/nyaxOIPzO8

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) November 27, 2025

As you can probably imagine, the reaction to that buzzer-beater — understanding the timing and shot difficulty, along with all Horn has been through up to this point — was nothing short of priceless. The bench players and coaches all lost their minds as his teammates attacked him on his way back down the floor, smiling from ear to ear.

Then there was similar joy when fellow walk-on and Kentucky native, Zach Tow, scored his first career point on a late free throw. All four points were deserved with both seen as glue pieces holding the team together behind closed doors, grinders willing to do anything to help the team win.

Tonight, it was scoring points in the 50-point win.

“I mean, if you didn’t see our reactions, you missed out on a lot. It was the greatest reaction you’ll ever see,” Moreno continued. “Walker and Zach, they mean a lot to our team. Walker is almost like a leader on the team because he’s been here.

“He is just a voice, he understands what he has to do and then he comes in with a great mindset and works every day. Zach is the same deal. He’s a senior and he is always ready to work. He is ready to hoop. They both just come in and make us better. Seeing them out there and getting those buckets makes me very proud.”

Others were more impactful in the 104-54 victory, but no moments were more special than what all unfolded in that final minute-and-a-half. Horn deserves the bucket in one of his final end-of-blowout appearances in the non-conference of his career, and Tow deserves credit for getting on the board with a make at the line as a good teammate in year two.

“He gets them up,” Noah said of Horn. “That’s not the first quick-release three that we’ve seen go down in this building, for sure.”

“He’s an amazing person,” Aberdeen added. “He comes in each and every day with a smile on his face. He’s doing what he can for us and to help us win. It was great seeing his shot fall today.”

One thing is for certain: Big Blue Nation loved every second of it, by far the loudest pop of the night.

“I think it’s just seeing everybody score, it’s just a great feeling to have,” Moreno said. “Walker, he’s a loyal man. He’s been here all four years. And Zach, same deal. Zach’s a Kentucky guy and Walker’s a fan-favorite, so I think just seeing the crowd erupt for those two, it was really cool to see.”

With the Unforgettables in the house, this one was certainly unforgettable for both of Kentucky’s walk-ons.