Kentucky Downs Texas 85-80
Denzel Aberdeen scored 19 points, including some clutch late free throws, as Kentucky beat Texas 85-80 on Wednesday night at Rupp Arena.
Collin Chandler and Otega Oweh each had 18 points for the Cats, who won their fourth consecutive game.
Kentucky (13-6, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) got 27 points off the bench, led by Chandler’s 18, compared to just 14 for the Longhorns.
Texas scored first but Kentucky got baskets from Oweh, Aberdeen and Andrija Jelavic to lead 6-2. After a Longhorns’ basket, Malachi Moreno hit one of two from the line, but Texas responded with a three-point play to tie the game at 7-7.
Mo Dioubate answered with a three-point play of his own, but Texas scored six in a row to lead 13-10. Back-to-back Oweh baskets gave Kentucky the lead back, but the Longhorns scored four in a row to lead 17-14.
Kam Williams hit a three to tie the game, but Texas took the lead right back. An Oweh baseline dunk tied the game at 19-19. The Longhorns took the lead again, but an Oweh bucket and a Collin Chandler dunk gave the Cats a 23-21 advantage. Texas tied the game, but Williams hit two free throws and Aberdeen hit a three to give the Cats a five-point lead. The Longhorns cut it to two, but a Moreno fast-break dunk gave UK a 30-25 lead and forced a Texas timeout.
The Longhorns scored the next seven points to take the lead back, but Aberdeen hit a three and UK led 33-32 with 3:11 left in the first half. After Texas scored four in a row, Moreno scored on a putback and hit a subsequent free throw to tie the game at 36-36. After the Longhorns scored, Chandler hit two free throws and the game was tied again, this time at 38-38. Texas scored again, but Aberdeen answered right before the halftime buzzer and the game was tied 40-40 at the half.
Kentucky scored the first six points of the second half on baskets by Williams and Oweh, followed by two Williams free throws. After a Texas basket, Oweh scored in the lane and UK led 48-42. The Longhorns scored five in a row before Aberdeen hit two free throws to extend the lead to 50-47. Texas would score again to get within one, again.
Oweh scored on a putback, then Dioubate scored on a three-point play and Kentucky led 55-49. Texas had a response, scoring seven in a row to lead 56-55 with 11:07 remaining.
Jelavic scored to give the lead back to the Cats, then Oweh made two free throws and Moreno added a pair of free throws to give UK a 61-56 advantage. After the Longhorns scored, Chandler did the same, stretching the lead to five again. Texas scored, but Chandler scored seven in a row and the Cats led 70-60. Texas scored, then Aberdeen made one of two at the line, giving UK a 71-63 lead.
After Texas scored to cut the Kentucky lead to six, Chandler hit a three, then scored on a fast-break dunk, and the Cats led 76-65. Texas hit two free throws, then Dioubate hit one and UK led by 10.
Texas would use an 11-3 run to get within two, 80-78, with 1:19 remaining. However, Aberdeen hit three of four at the line to build the lead back to 83-78 with 13 seconds left. The Longhorns would score to get within three, but would get no closer.
Kentucky returns to action on Saturday, hosting Ole Miss at Rupp Arena. Tipoff is set for noon ET and the game can be seen on ESPN.
