Kentucky started about as bad as you possibly could, giving up wide-open 3s and offensive rebounds, turning it over, and missing easy shots. It was over 3 minutes before they even scored. Jelavic had all 3 points Kentucky had before the first TV timeout: a free throw and a great transition run-out when he beat LSU down the floor. It made the SEC analysts look like they knew the future.
In fact, that became Kentucky’s only points in the first 7 minutes. Luckily, LSU hadn’t played well either; with 13:20 to go, it was 12-3, but it could have been way worse. And then it did get worse. LSU would go up 16-3, forcing Mark Pope to call a timeout with 12 minutes to go. The Cats looked lost on both ends, with LSU getting rebounds and wide-open looks, and Kentucky listlessly dribbling and passing with no coherent plan. That offense that we saw against Mississippi State in the second half was gone, but the one we saw in the opening 20 minutes was right back. Whatever they worked on didn’t work.
Dioubate came in and airballed a 3, and Garrison had an offensive foul and got lost on defense several times. Jasper just got in the game, but Kentucky just could not make a shot. Kentucky had 5 rebounds to LSU’s 12, and they were down 19-5 on a drought that had lasted more than 5 minutes, their only points coming from the free throw line since Jelavic made the layup on the break.
With 8:52 to go in the first half, Kentucky had just one made shot; they were so lucky to be down just 13 at 19-6. They needed a run, they needed a spark, and it was Jelavic again who made a shot, stepping out and hitting a 3.
Moreno fell to the ground holding the back of his leg, but it looked like he was fine after he got up and started to move around. Kentucky was just 3-15 to this point with 11 points; Sutton himself had 11 at the 7-minute mark.
Oweh missed an easy layup, and Chandler had a wide-open 3, but neither could take advantage before finally making another shot. Chandler hit a stepback 3 for Kentucky’s 14th point of the first half with just over 5 minutes to go, cutting the lead to amazingly just 9. But Kentucky again just could not build any momentum at all. LSU extended the lead back out to 29-16 heading to the under-4 timeout.
Kentucky got it to 10 again at 30-20, but LSU again pushed it back out to 38-22 at halftime.
If you were hoping the opening 4 minutes would show a renewed fire and a desire to actually close the gap? Well, it didn’t start great. LSU got the lead up to 18, but after the opening minute, the Cats went on a 9-0 run to get it back to under 10. However, a foul from Brandon Garrison allowed the Tigers to push it up to 10 again before an Aberdeen 3 cut it to 7 heading to the under-16 timeout. But the Cats had 5 fouls already, and that could be huge as the Tigers were already 13-18 from the line at this point.
Andrija Jelavic had a wide-open 3 where no one closed out on him, and he missed. LSU’s Pablo Tamba had a wide-open look, and he drained it. That is the story of the year for Kentucky. 52-41 LSU with just over 12 to go.
The Cats cut it to 5, but left McKinnon wide open on yet another defensive miscue, before Oweh answered with another 3 to get it back to 5 with 9 minutes to go. But the defense and the passing kept letting them down at a moment when it needed to be tough. Oweh knocked the ball loose and Kentucky had a 2-on-1 with Chandler and Oweh. Chandler floated to the wing and Oweh went to the basket. LSU's defender was in between both. Instead of making him commit or taking the open shot, Chandler tried to throw an alley-oop to Oweh. It wasn't close; instead, it forced Oweh to catch it on the baseline, turning it back over to LSU and sending the game to the under-8 timeout.
With 6 minutes to go, the Cats were still down 7, and they needed one more run to really get back in this thing.
An and-one from Moreno cut it to 4. A wide-open corner 3 from Otega Oweh, Kentucky's 7th make of their last 9 shots, cut it to just 1 with 5:04 to go. But again, a wide-open 3 from LSU put the Tigers back up 4, before an offensive rebound from Chandler led to a wide-open Oweh 3, and Kam Williams gave Kentucky its first lead of the night with 3:40 to go on a steal and dunk.
LSU answered, and Kentucky went to Moreno, and instead of throwing it to the corner for a wide-open 3, Moreno tried to go straight up with it and got it swatted. Mark Pope preaches making plays for teammates, and Nate Oats said last week that Kentucky's bigs don't look to pass when they get it. That haunted them here.
The Cats battled and battled, with 2:39 to go they had the ball and Pope called a timeout. They hit Moreno on a pick and roll and he atoned for his last mistake, slamming it home. Kentucky sent Robert Miller to the line where he missed them both. Kentucky had a chance to extend their lead. But another bad pass led to an LSU break where Chandler had to foul to stop a layup. Unfortunately for Kentucky it was Max McKinnon who shoots 90+ from the line. He calmly made them both and put LSU back in the lead with 1:32 to go.
Chandler was fouled, and you could feel the nerves coming off him as he stood at the line. He missed the first but made the second to tie it back up. A great rebound from Moreno led to Kentucky having another shot. They drained all the shot clock, and it was Oweh that dribbled to the elbow, but the ball was on his fingertips as the red light went on. It was reviewed, and Kentucky's lead was no more.
LSU took all the time they could and found their star Max McKinnon, and Oweh fouled him, sending one of the best free throw shooters back to the line with 17 seconds to go. He was 4-4 and he left 6-6.
Pope gets his timeout, they have one left and the ball with 12.8 to go. Where do the Cats go for points?
Oweh triggered the ball in and got the ball back driving to the lane with 4.5 to go. Oweh was fouled hard and has a chance to tie it up from the line. He made the first but he missed the second. LSU got the rebound and was fouled with 1.9 to go.
You had your preseason SEC player of the year on the line, and he just couldn't convert it. LSU missed both, Kentucky got the rebound with 1.6 to go, and called a timeout. They had to go the full length of the court.
And just like the women, they hit a buzzer beater with Malachi Moreno catching a full-court heave from Chandler and draining a jumper.