Content by – Graham Shepherd for
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The ‘Cats fell to the No. 16 North Carolina Tar Heels at Rupp Arena in a late game in Lexington on Tuesday night. In a game that the ‘Cats led for over 25-minutes of game action and demonstrated one of the best defensive performances of the season, it was a defensive miscue on the last possession of the game that led to the ‘Cats demise. The ‘Cats allowed Dixon to score on consecutive possessions to give the Tar Heels the huge road win. Kentucky, down three starters in Lowe, Dioubate, and Quaintance, relied on Oweh, Aberdeen and Chandler consistently to lead the way on offense. However, after continually attempting to draw up easy scores, Kentucky couldn’t get a field goal to fall in the second half for over an 11-minute stretch. The three guards were the only ‘Cats in double figures in scoring and Oweh led the way with 16-points. Jelavic gave the ‘Cats quality minutes on both the offensive and defensive end and did his part to help shut down one-time Kentucky prospect and North Carolina Freshman Caleb Wilson. Wilson went 5 of 19 from the field but did finish with 15-points and 12-rebounds. The ‘Cats got outrebounded by 11 and gave up an astounding 20 offensive rebounds to the Tar Heels. Kentucky also shot an abysmal 8% (1 of 13) from beyond the arc in the game, with the one make surprisingly coming from Garrison. Overall, this is a detrimental loss for the ‘Cats in a season already off to a rocky and slow start. The health of the team does have an impact but you simply cannot lose games at home in a sold out Rupp Arena. The ‘Cats will have another opportunity to pick up a meaningful and important win this Friday when they take on No. 11 Gonzaga Bulldogs in Nashville.
Pre-Game Overview:
The ‘Cats and the Tar Heels faced off in Rupp Arena for the first time since 2014. The last meeting between the two teams was in 2023 when the ‘Cats defeated North Carolina 87-83 in Atlanta as a part of the CBS classic. Each of the last 4 matchups, and 5 of the last 6 matchups have occurred in the CBS classic. This game presents as part of the new SEC/ACC challenge that features home games for teams on an alternating basis. The ‘Cats lost their SEC/ACC matchup a year ago to Clemson on the road. Other big matchups in the challenge this year features Florida at Duke and Louisville at Arkansas. Matchups to look for in this version of the ‘Cats versus the Tar Heels include Freshman Caleb Wilson and the Kentucky frontcourt and the battle of the boards and three-point conversions. The ‘Cats are desperate for a big time win early in the year and look to avoid a home loss to a top 25 North Carolina team.
The starting lineup for the ‘Cats featured Denzel Aberdeen, Collin Chandler, Otega Oweh, Kam Williams, and Malachi Moreno.
The spread for Tuesday nights game was -6.5 (Kentucky) and the Over/Under was set at 163.5.
Game Recap:
First Half
The ‘Cats won the tip but Oweh missed an opening game shot for Kentucky. The Tar Heels found an open Evans on a back screen and cut. Chandler answered with an easy layup on the other end. Carolina air balled a three and Aberdeen was fouled on a drive to the basket. Moreno set a solid screen and left a wide open lane for an easy score from Oweh to give Kentucky a 4-2 lead. Wilson scored off an offensive board to tie the game at 4. The ‘Cats defense forced a Tar Heel turnover on the baseline. Oweh was aggressive on a take to the paint and a hook and score. North Carolina called a timeout on a loose ball and the ‘Cats led 6-4 with 16:38-minutes to play in the half. Chandler drove and scored at the rim. Williams missed a wide-open three for the ‘Cats after a quick Carolina miss. Williams then stole the ball and slammed home a transition score for a 10-4 ‘Cats lead. Williams was called for his second foul of the game with 14:38-minutes left in the half. Out of the timeout, Aberdeen was called for a loose ball foul. Carolina scored on the next possession. Johnson missed a layup then Carolina nailed a three. Garrison was bailed out on a late foul call on a short shot attempt. Garrison made 1 of 2 at the line. Johnson was called for a foul on a drive to the basket. Dixon hit both free-throws to tie the game at 11. Garrison lost a great pass from Johnson and then got beat on a drive to the basket. Garrison gathered an offensive board and scored. Powell nailed a corner three to answer. Jelavic backed down a defender to easily score over Carolina. Wilson scored in the paint for Carolina. Johnson scooted by a defender through contact and scored. Chandler stole a pass and lost the ball out of bounds off a Carolina defender. Kentucky trailed North Carolina 18-17 with 10:20-minutes to play in the half. Moreno skyed over defenders to collect a defensive rebound and gain a foul against the Tar Heels. Jelavic missed a three for Kentucky. Wilson scored for Carolina and Moreno answered for Kentucky. Oweh stole a pass and slammed it home for the ’Cats lead at 21-20. Jelavic stole it from Wilson and Noah found Aberdeen in transition for a slam as Rupp Arena erupted. The ‘Cats led 23-20 with 7:18-minutes to play in the half. Bogavac hit hit 1 of 2 free-throws at the line. The ‘Cats lost track of the shot clock and received a violation. The Tar Heels took a 26-23 lead after a three. Aberdeen scored for the ‘Cats on the next possession. Chandler found a loose ball and Aberdeen scored athletically at the rim. Kentucky led 27-26 at the under 4-minute media timeout. Wilson found Stevenson on another back cut score from Carolina. Garrison missed a wide-open shot off a behind the back pass from Aberdeen. Chandler then fought through contact for a score for a 29-28 lead. Wilson jumped over the back of Jelavic for a rebound with no call. Jelavic collected an offensive board and backed down Wilson for a score. Bogavac answered for Carolina. Chandler was called for an egregious foul that sent Wilson to the free-throw line for the Carolina tie at 31 all. Jelavic got Wilson in the air twice on pump fake attempts before missing a three. The ‘Cats defense held firm to hold the score at 31-31 at halftime.
It was an exciting and eventful first half at Rupp Arena between the ‘Cats and the Tar Heels. The ‘Cats shot 50% from the field but did not make a three-pointer, going 0 for 8 from beyond the arc in the half. The ‘Cats also slightly struggled on the boards, getting outrebounded 21-16 in the half. Oweh, Aberdeen and Chandler led the ‘Cats balanced scoring attack with 6 points each. Former Kentucky recruiting prospect Caleb Wilson led all scorers with 7 first half points while going just 3 of 12 from the field. Kentucky scored 28 of their 31 points in the paint in the first half. There were moments that got chippy between the two teams and some questionable foul calls throughout the half. The ‘Cats will look to connect from beyond the arc and continue their defensive intensity in the second half.
Halftime: Kentucky 31 – North Carolina 31
Second Half
The second half began with a ‘Cats possession. Chandler turned it over on a drive in the lane. Moreno collected a defensive board and Aberdeen found a soaring Oweh for a alley-oop slam and the lead. Three consecutive foul calls occurred on the next Carolina possession, 2 on Kentucky and 1 offensive on North Carolina. Aberdeen was then fouled on a mid-range jumper around the free-throw line. Aberdeen hit both free-throws for a 35-31 ‘Cats lead. Moreno blocked a shot but Veesaar put it back up and in. Wilson fouled Chandler on a back cut to the basket. Chandler hit both free-throws. Aberdeen hesitated and scored once again for Kentucky. Wilson scored through contact and Oweh answered quickly. Bogavac nailed a corner three over Moreno. Veesaar then found an offensive board and scored on a dunk. Oweh threw up an alley-oop to Moreno who finished at the rim. Stevenson answered for North Carolina. Kentucky led 43-42 at the under 16-minute media timeout. Aberdeen air mailed a last second heave out of a timeout for the ‘Cats. Jelavic again cooked Wilson on the offensive end after Garrison gave up an easy score. Garrison nailed a top of the key three for the ‘Cats. It was the first three of the game for Kentucky. Oweh took a drive to the pain and was almost taken to the ground with no foul call. Oweh answered with another takeaway and was rewarded with a foul in transition. Oweh went to the line for free-throws. He hit 1 of 2 but Jelavic collected the rebound. Oweh missed a mid-range shot but Jelavic again got the board and was fouled on the putback attempt. Kentucky led 49-44 with 11:58-minutes to play in the game. Oweh missed a designed mid-range floater out of the timeout. North Carolina answered with an and-one chance on the other end. Chandler drove the ball and was fouled in the paint. Chandler hit both free-throws to make it 51-47 Kentucky. Veesaar slammed it home for Carolina and Noah was fouled on a drive to the rim to put the ‘Cats in the bonus. Noah hit both free-throws for Kentucky. Kentucky held firm on defense and forced a missed shot and out of bounds on the Tar Heels. Moreno was called for an over-the-back foul on a rebound attempt. Veesaar attempted a putback dunk but missed and was called for a violation. Moreno missed an entry pass catch that would have led to an easy score. Aberdeen missed a transition three and Jelavic was called for a questionable foul call on the rebound attempt. Wilson flew a pass attempt to Veesaar out of bounds for a turnover. Oweh blocked a shot attempt from Evans and the ‘Cats led 53-49 with 7:39-minutes to play. Each team had not scored a point in over 2:30-minutes in the game. Jelavic blocked Wilson at the rim but was called for a foul. Wilson hit 1 of 2. Chandler made his way to the rim and missed but Moreno collected the board and was fouled on the shot attempt. Moreno hit 1 of 2 at the line. Moreno found the ball on a back cut and a jump ball was called to give possession to Kentucky. Powell was called for an over-the-back foul on a deep missed three from Evans. That sent Oweh to the line for two free-throws. He hit both free-throws to give the ‘Cats a 56-50 lead. Oweh was called for a push on a rebound attempt. Bogavac missed the free-throw on the front-end of a one-and-one. Wilson scored on a spine move in the paint. Jelavic missed a three but collected the next defensive rebound. Wilson was fouled on a cut to the rim and was rewarded with free-throws. Wilson hit both free-throws. The Tar Heels tied the game as the ‘Cats had missed their last 13 field goals in the game. North Carolina went on a quick 6-0 run over the course of just 1:30 minutes. Moreno was fouled on a take to the basket with the shot clock winding down. Moreno made 1 of 2 at the line for a 1-point Kentucky lead. Veesaar slammed home the Tar Heel lead. Oweh drove and scored at the rim through contact. Kentucky led 59-58 with 2:37-minutes to play. Bogavac nailed a corner three for Carolina and the lead. Oweh was fouled in the paint to head to the line for two shots. Oweh hit 1 of 2 at the line. Kentucky trailed 61-60. Bogavac went to the line for a free-throw after a Chandler foul. He missed the front-end. Oweh and Moreno tried a give and go and Moreno was fouled by Bogavac, who fouled out of the game with 1:41-minutes to play. Moreno went to the line for free-throws. Moreno hit both free-throws for a 62-61 Kentucky lead. Jelavic rejected Wilson at the rim and Evans missed a deep heave from three, but the Tar Heels found the offensive board for a new shot-clock. Coach Davis called timeout to draw up a play with 1:07-minutest to play in the game and the Tar Heels down 1-point. Dixon nailed a three over Aberdeen. Chandler drove and scored at the rim to tie the game at 64 each with 31-seconds to play and 24-seconds on the shot-clock. Dixon drove the ball to the pain and finished over several ‘Cats defenders to give the Tar Heels the 66-64 lead with 13-seconds to play. Coach Pope responded with a timeout to draw up a play. Chandler missed an up-and-under layup and was not rewarded for fighting through contact and North Carolina found the rebound. Wilson went to the line for two free-throws with 3-seconds to play. Wilson missed the first and made the second and the ‘Cats threw it away on a long pass attempt. Kentucky went on to lose the game by a score of 67-64. The ‘Cats finished 2 of their last 16 from the field and couldn’t find an answer on the offensive end when they needed a score. They surprisingly went away from Oweh on the final game tying possession and instead elected for Chandler who couldn’t get to his spot to convert the layup attempt.
Final: Kentucky 64 – North Carolina 67
Game Stats:
North Carolina FG %: 41% (30% 3PT – 6 of 20) (60% FT – 9 of 15)
Kentucky FG %: 43% (8% 3PT – 1 of 13) (77% FT – 17 of 22)
Rebounds: 41 – 30 North Carolina
Assist/Turnover Ratio: 8:9
Turnovers: UK (9), North Carolina (12)
Bench Points: 17 – 16 North Carolina
Points off Turnovers: 13 – 7 Kentucky
Fast Break Points: 13 – 6 Kentucky
Paint Points: 42 – 34 Kentucky
Player Stats:
Otega Oweh – [(16 points) (4 rebounds) (2 assists) (2 blocks) (2 steals)]
Collin Chandler – [(12 points) (2 rebounds) (1 assist) (2 steals)]
Denzel Aberdeen – [(10 points) (4 rebounds) (4 assists) (1 block)]
Malachi Moreno – [(8 points) (9 rebounds) (3 blocks) (2 steals)]
Andrija Jelavic – [(6 points) (4 rebounds) (1 block)]
Brandon Garrison – [(6 points) (1 rebound)]
Trent Noah – [(2 points) (1assist) (1 steal)]
Jasper Johnson – [(2 points)]
Kam Williams – [(2 points) (3 rebounds) (1 steal)]
Next Game:
The No. 18 Kentucky Wildcats (5-3, 0-0 SEC) will head to Nashville to take on the No. 11 Gonzaga Bulldogs (7-1) on Friday, December 5 in Bridgestone Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. EST. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
