Kentucky-North Carolina Postgame Notes

KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
RUPP ARENA AT CENTRAL BANK CENTER | LEXINGTON, KY
DECEMBER 2, 2025
ATTENDANCE: 20,029

Final Score: No. 16/17 North Carolina 67, No. 18 Kentucky 64

Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky is 5-3 on the season and North Carolina is 7-1.
• North Carolina leads the series 26-18.
  • Kentucky leads in games played in Lexington, 8-7.
• Next for Kentucky: on Friday, the Wildcats take on No. 11 Gonzaga in Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Game time is 7 p.m. Eastern (6 p.m. Central time in Nashville) and it will be televised on ESPN2.

Team Notes

• Kentucky is now 1-2 in the ACC/SEC Challenge.
• The game featured 14 lead changes and nine ties.
• Shooting 74.2 percent at the free throw line entering the game, the Wildcats had another solid contest at the charity stripe, making 17 of 22 for 77.3 percent.
• All nine Wildcats who played scored.

Player Notes

• Otega Oweh tied his season high with 16 points and has scored in double figures in all eight games this season.
• Denzel Aberdeen scored 10 points and led the team with four assists.
  • He has scored in double figures in all eight games for UK this season, the longest streak of consecutive games in double figures of his career.
• Collin Chandler added 12 points but lost his streak of 14 consecutive games making a 3-pointer.
• Malachi Moreno had eight points and led the Wildcats in rebounds with nine.
• Jaland Lowe, Mo Dioubate and Jayden Quaintance missed the game because of injury.

In the First Half

• Kentucky started Denzel Aberdeen, Otega Oweh, Collin Chandler, Kam Williams and Malachi Moreno for the third consecutive game.
• UK’s first substitutions were Andrija Jelavic and Brandon Garrison at 14:38.
• Early on, Kentucky went up 10-4 before North Carolina scored on six consecutive possessions for an 18-15 lead.
• From there, the teams went back-and-forth and ended the half in a 31-31 tie.
  • Aberdeen, Oweh and Chandler led UK with six points each.    

In the Second Half

• Kentucky began the second half with the starters.
• Garrison hit a 3-pointer – UK’s only long ball of the game – with 13:08 left to make the score 48-44.
• From that point, UK went more than nine minutes without a basket until an Oweh layup at the 2:43 mark put the Wildcats up 59-58.
• Tied at 64, Derek Dixon’s driving layup with 16 seconds left put the Tar Heels ahead and a Caleb Wilson free throw with two seconds provided the final score.