Kentucky Overcomes No. 7 Gonzaga 90-89 in Stunning Comeback

Kentucky coach Mark Pope and UK players Jaxson Robinson (left) and Andrew Carr in postgame press conference Saturday night.

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By Jamie H. Vaught

If you are a Kentucky Wildcat fan who went to bed before the late tipoff (10 p.m. ET) Saturday night, you sure missed an exciting game to watch on TV, especially at the end.

No. 4 Kentucky matched its largest halftime deficit comeback in school history with a victory against seventh-ranked Gonzaga in Seattle when the Wildcats, who were down 50-34 at the intermission, roared back in dramatic fashion to beat the Zags 90-89 in overtime. 

The other remarkable comebacks in Kentucky's storied history when trailing by 16 at the intermission were the victories over Louisville (2004) and LSU (1994).

Despite playing without its injured star point guard Lamont Butler, UK improved its overall mark to 8-1, while Gonzaga dropped to 7-2.

“It was a great team win,” said Kentucky's Jaxson Robinson, who also played two years at Brigham Young when current UK boss Mark Pope was the head coach. “The first half was a little tough, but this team is resilient. Coach talks about it all the time.  We’re a great team that makes adjustments.”

Added Pope, “You know today in college basketball, you don’t get to coach guys for multiple years very often. So, I’m insanely blessed to coach Jaxson for a third year and watching him grow is like the best thing ever. It’s the best thing about basketball.”

Pope also told a story about Robinson at Brigham Young where the player was the Big 12's Sixth Man of the Year. The coach teased him about not wanting to play at point guard again while at BYU.  

Against the Zags, Pope said of Robinson, “My guy is a five-assist, zero-turnover and played the point for the last eight minutes of the game under massive duress and the full overtime. He’s a special man. What Jax has done the last three or four games defensively is breathtaking, and toughness-wise is incredible.”

The victory gave Pope his second signature win already in only nine games as the Wildcat coach. UK now has two wins over AP Top 10 opponents this season, including the Duke game in Atlanta.

In regulation, the Wildcats nearly won the game.  Koby Brea took a mid-range jumper but it bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded.

While Kentucky was leading by one with four seconds left in overtime, Andrew Carr was fouled and missed two critical free throws. However, in the remaining seconds, the Bulldogs failed to get the shot off.

The Wildcats, who were down by 18 in the early minutes of the second half, had five players scoring in double figures.  Andrew Carr, who played the last 10 minutes of the second half with four fouls, hit 19 points on 8 of 12 shooting.  Robinson, who also had four fouls, followed with 18 points, including 15 in the second half. He also had a season-high five assists.

Brandon Garrison, who scored a season-high 10 points, was UK’s top rebounder, grabbing a season-high nine boards.

Forward Graham Ike of Gonzaga had game-highs of 28 points and 11 rebounds.

Both teams were nearly even in the shooting and rebounding departments. Kentucky made 45.3 percent of its field goals with Gonzaga making 46.5 percent.  As for total rebounds, UK had 43, including 16 offensive boards, with the Zags getting 42, including 15 offensive rebounds.

Kentucky will host Colgate on Wednesday, Dec. 11 at Rupp Arena.  The 8 p.m. ET matchup will be shown on ESPN2.

Gonzaga, meanwhile, will meet No. 25 UConn Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The 8 p.m. ET contest will be shown on FOX.

Jamie H. Vaught, a longtime sports columnist in Kentucky, is the author of six books about UK basketball, including recently-published “Forever Crazy About The Cats: An Improbable Journey of a Kentucky Sportswriter Overcoming Adversity.” Now a retired college professor who taught at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College in Middlesboro., he is the editor and founder of KySportsStyle.com Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter @KySportsStyle or reach him via email at KySportsStyle@gmail.com.

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