With 5:13 left on the clock, Collin Chandler saw a lane open up with the ball in his hands.
He took the opportunity and soared into the air, hitting a slam dunk so memorable that it was No. 1 on the SportsCenter top 10 plays of the day for Nov. 4 and had some calling it an early favorite for dunk of the year.
“I got past my guy, and the lane kind of cleared out — it was a clear path,” Chandler said. “So, I went up to dunk, and the guy came over, so I had to hang a little bit longer to wait for his hands to kind of pass me before I actually dunked it.”
His dunk immediately went viral and drew so much attention that it even prompted five-time Grammy Award-winning rapper Lil Wayne to comment on it.
“It felt good. I’ve gotten a few so far, but it’s my first time having somebody jump with me this time. It was fun,” Chandler said.
It was the exclamation point on No. 9 Kentucky men’s basketball’s 77-51 season-opening win over Nicholls. However, the game didn’t always look like it would end that way.
The No. 9 team in the country didn’t start its season the way most expected.
Kentucky’s offense sputtered early, managing just 28 points in the opening half on 32.3% shooting (10-31) and an underwhelming 12.5% from three (2-16).
The Wildcats looked out of rhythm, and the shots simply were not falling into the net.
“We had some tightness on the floor on the offensive end,” Head Coach Mark Pope said.
They leaned on defense to stay ahead, forcing Nicholls into shooting 12% (3-25) from the field and just one made three-pointer in 14 tries.
“That was something we hit on this week, and I felt like our team defensively was great,” Chandler said. “Being in our gaps, we hit on that big this week. It’s just something that no matter how the game’s going, offensively or not, that’s always something we can lean on, our effort defensively, making it hard on teams to score, and that’s what kept us alive.”
By halftime, the Wildcats led 28–15, their fewest first-half points scored in a season opener since 2020 but also the fewest allowed at Rupp Arena since 2014.
The team that walked out for the second half was unrecognizable from the one in the first.
Kentucky flipped the script entirely, and at the center of it was the 6-5 guard out of Utah.
In the first half, Chandler finished just 1-4 from the field and the three, mustering five points to start the game.
The same shots that rimmed out in the first half started falling, and Chandler suddenly couldn’t miss. The sophomore shot perfectly across every single category.
When Chandler threw down that viral slam, Rupp Arena erupted.
The crowd roared, the bench tumbled onto the court in disbelief, and the players on the floor stood frozen, jaws dropped.
Sparked by four 3-pointers, he led the team with a career-high 15 points and tied his career best for assists with four.
Once the shots started falling, Chandler didn’t hesitate. He credited his mentality as something the team works on every day. He explained that in practice, if a player misses, they’re expected to keep firing until they make one.
“What we do is shoot the ball,” he said. “Even if you miss ten in a row, you keep shooting. That’s not just for fun — it’s a message for us that we’re going to keep shooting even if we start 0-for-3 or 0-for-10.”
However, it was just the offensive performance that impressed Pope. It was about the way he started.
“I thought Collin started the game elite defensively,” Pope said. “He made great defensive plays early, and even though none of us had much of a rhythm offensively, it was nice to see him find some comfort level on that end tonight, too.”
That same defensive effort sparked Kentucky’s second-half surge. Chandler’s energy and momentum were contagious, whether it was Mo Dioubate diving for steals or Denzel Aberdeen finding rhythm as a distributor.
“When I see someone else do something like that, a crazy play, a block or a dunk, it makes me want to do it,” Dioubate said. “Collin had that dunk, and I’m like, I’m going to try to get a steal and go do the same thing. It’s good energy, and that’s what we talk about a lot.”
The Wildcats, once stuck at 32% shooting, hit 61% from the field and 45% from beyond the arc in the second half.
For Chandler, the night wasn’t just about a viral dunk or the flashiness — it was about persistence. From a struggling first half to a flawless second, he turned frustration into fuel and helped his team do the same.
A slow start, a viral finish and the moment Chandler reminded everyone why this Kentucky team might just have what it takes to go the distance.
