Kentucky defeated by Seton Hall 84-83 in overtime

Freshman+guards+Immanuel+Quickley+and+Keldon+Johnson+walk+back+to+the+locker+room+following+their+loss+to+Duke+in+the+State+Farm+Champions+Classic+on+Tuesday%2C+Nov.+6%2C+2018%2C+at+Bankers+Life+Fieldhouse+in+Indianapolis%2C+Indiana.+Photo+by+Jordan+Prather+%7C+Staff

Freshman guards Immanuel Quickley and Keldon Johnson walk back to the locker room following their loss to Duke in the State Farm Champions Classic on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. Photo by Jordan Prather | Staff

Kentucky made a road trip to the Big Apple to play Seton Hall in Madison Square Garden Saturday, which resulted in a 84-83 overtime win for the Pirates. 

Kentucky’s PJ Washington came out on a high note and was aggressive on the offensive side of the ball, scoring Kentucky’s first five points on a layup and three-pointer. However, both the Cats and the Pirates would go on to struggle on offense in the first half.

Around the 12-minute mark, the Cats hadn’t scored in four and a half minutes and had hit zero of their last eight field goals. Shortly after, though, Washington went to the foul line and hit a pair of free throws to end Kentucky’s near five-minute scoring drought.

However, UK’s field goal drought continued until graduate student Reid Travis made a layup and was fouled in the process. After hitting both free throws, Kentucky went up 19-16. The Cats hadn’t scored a field goal in ten minutes before Travis’s basket.

Going into halftime as the Cats led 31-25, Kentucky’s leading scorer was Washington, who had 11 points and six rebounds. Freshman Immanuel Quickley added eight points and went 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. To emphasize the offensive struggles on both sides of the ball, Seton Hall hit 7-of-21 field goals while UK made 9-of-29 in just the first half.

The second half was a battle as Seton Hall kept up with no. 9 ranked Kentucky, and forced several lead changes. Washington was a difference maker for the Cats, who finished with 13 points in just the second half.

Seton Hall’s Myles Powell was a terror for the Cats, especially in the second half. With 1:13 left, Powell hit a three to tie the game up at 67 each. After a turnover and a few missed shots from both teams, the Pirates had the ball left in what was expected to be the last possession of the game, as both the shot clock and game clock were running out. With two seconds left in regulation, Powell drained a slightly Quickley-contested three-pointer to put Seton Hall up 70-67 with 1.5 left.

As the Cats took the ball out, Washington made the assist to Johnson who drained a half-court buzzer beater to send the game into overtime.

There were several lead changes in the overtime period, just as there were in regulation, but Johnson hit a go-ahead three for Kentucky with just over a minute left in overtime to put Kentucky up 82-81. A Hagans free throw gave Kentucky another point on the board, then the ball was back in the possession of Seton Hall. With eight seconds left, a Pirate three-pointer ended the game. Kentucky’s last possession ended in a blocked Johnson three-point attempt.

Despite the loss, Washington finished with 29 points and 13 rebounds, his third double-double of the season.

Kentucky returns to the court in a week to play the University of Utah at home at 5 p.m.