SEATTLE — No. 4 Kentucky men’s basketball did the impossible on Saturday night, overcoming a 16-point halftime deficit to beat No. 7 Gonzaga 90-89 in overtime inside Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.
The game marked the second straight on the road for Head Coach Mark Pope after the Cats suffered their first loss of the season inside Littlejohn Coliseum on the campus of Clemson University during the ACC/SEC Challenge against the Tigers. Pope’s Cats pulled out the win in their first overtime game of the season to improve to 2-0 against ranked teams.
Looking to bounce back from a tough result, Kentucky was forced to make a change to its starting lineup due to an ankle injury typical starter and former San Diego State Aztec Lamont Butler suffered in the Palmetto State. In his place, Kerr Kriisa joined typical stars Otega Oweh, Jaxson Robinson, Amari Williams and Andrew Carr in the starting lineup.
Things got off to a hot start with Kentucky immediately nailing back-to-back deep balls from Kriisa and Robinson, but a familiar scoring problem that cropped up in Clemson returned as the Cats would go two whole minutes without scoring before the first media timeout. That scoring drought would make it to three minutes while the field goal drought would extend to nearly five minutes.
Things would get worse from there as, once a 6-0 run allowed the Bulldogs to lead by 12, Kentucky couldn’t hardly get back within single digits as the minutes ticked away in the first half.
Then, as if on queue, the scoring droughts returned.
Kentucky wouldn’t hit a single field goal for the last five minutes of play as not even the addition of Lyon County’s Travis Perry could get UK going. With Bulldog Graham Ike finishing the half with 18 points, UK would trail by 16 at the break.
Back out for the second half of play, Kentucky responded strong with a 7-0 scoring run to get back within 10 points of the Zags.
Things would get even crazier as the Zags failed to score for nearly three minutes before the first media timeout, allowing UK to be back within single digits.
Kentucky wouldn’t back down no matter what the Zags threw at it, though, getting back within three points with a little over a quarter left to play and the score at 58-55.
From there things would get harder for UK as an injury to Kriisa and foul trouble allowed Gonzaga to maintain a close lead for much of the second half.
In true “big game” fashion, it would come down to the last minute before the contest would truly be decided as Kentucky continued to battle and score points to keep the Bulldogs on their toes.
The Cats would tie the game with 58 seconds showing on the clock, something that would stand as regulation ended with both teams dead even at 79-79, granting free basketball in the 2024 Battle in Seattle.
Kentucky jumped out to a substantial lead to start the overtime period, leading by seven, but back-to-back 3-pointers by the Zags made it close once again before a second-chance Carr bucket at th other end.
In the end, in perhaps one of the best college basketball games of the season, Kentucky was able to do just enough to complete its miracle comeback and silence the Gonzaga fans inside Climate Pledge Arena.
Kentucky will return to action back home inside Rupp Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 11, against the Colgate Raiders. Tipoff against Colgate is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET and will air live on ESPN2.
