Malachi Moreno, right, and Kam Williams celebrated after UK's win at LSU. (Vicky Graff Photo)
It took a miracle for Kentucky to overcome LSU on Wednesday night.
Malachi Moreno hit a jumper at the top of the key at the buzzer, sending the Wildcats to a 75-74 triumph over the Tigers. The buzzer-beater capped an 18-point comeback in Baton Rouge.
The Wildcats (11-6, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) overcame the 18-point deficit by outscoring the hosts 53-36 in the second half. Kentucky trailed 74-73 with 1.6 seconds left before Moreno snagged a half-court heave at the top of the key from Collin Chandler. He went high for the catch, turned and swished the game-winner to give UK a much-needed victory.
“I made the shot, but that doesn’t happen if we don’t come out with the same intensity we had in the second half,” Moreno said on the UK postgame radio show. “We stepped it up in the second half. We made plays for each other, making that one extra pass, and we started knocking out shots — that led to that shot.”
Moreno played the final eight minutes with four fouls and finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.
The final play was intended for Otega Oweh, but Moreno ended up being the best option with the game on the line and the freshman forward delivered at the buzzer. Kentucky coach Mark Pope was pleased with Moreno’s poise under pressure down the stretch.
“My gosh, (he executed) with poise,” the Kentucky coach said. “He didn’t run away from the shot. We were really fortunate when it ended up happy for him and happy for our guys.”
Kentucky, which scored 22 points and shot 27 percent in the first half, made eight 3-pointers and shot a blistering 65 percent in the second half to spark the comeback.
Pope said the Wildcats lacked the energy it needed in the first half and added it was “an issue” against the Tigers but praised his team’s ability to respond in the final 20 minutes.
“What has not been a challenge for us this season is our guys trying to respond to tests,” Pope said. “They were great, like, they never like … I said, there were 100 times they could have just said, ‘This is not our night,’ and they refused to do it. It’s a good sign for our team. It’s the character these guys have, and I think we’ll continue to grow in our confidence that way and it’ll serve us well, especially as we play better and better.”
Oweh and Denzel Aberdeen combined for 38 points — 32 in the second frame — and five 3-pointers to pace the Kentucky offense. Aberdeen’s 17 points all came in the second half. Oweh finished with 21 points.
The win came two days after Kentucky learned point guard Jaland Lowe would miss the rest of the season and undergo shoulder surgery. The Wildcats were also without Jayden Quaintance, who is still nursing swelling in the knee.
Andrija Jelavic started in place of Mo Dioubate and finished with 11 points and five rebounds. Kam Williams was also inserted into the lineup and finished with five points before fouling out in the second half. Collin Chandler had nine points and three assists – including the big one at the end – off the bench.
LSU fell to 12-7 overall and has started SEC play 0-4 for the first time since the 2012-13 season.
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Gamtracker: Kentucky at Tennessee, noon, Saturday. TV/Radio: ESPN, UK Radio Network.
4 Responses
We need Noah to play on Saturday, even if it is just in 2 minute spurts.
Did Moreno just save Pope's job? We will have a little more clarification on Saturday. We need to find a way to take UT out as well at their house. We lose to UT, it would seem the seat never really left the Warm cycle. We need a coach who can coach for a complete game from start to finish. I have never seen a team that could consistently struggle after tip-off. Almost every team we play seems to be able to hit shots consistently inside if we don't foul them first. Noah needs to see more PT and Garrison needs to see less. He had 0 pts for 15 mins of play. He continues to only look the part. Kelanic also needs more PT.
Funny how the world turns – Moreno may be the one and done lottery pick and JQ may have to come back to prove himself .
Moreno definitely needs to come back and work on his shooting. But I see what your saying. JQ needs to come back and prove he can play at a high level after surgery. Some bigs are never the same after that injury. It doesn't effect smaller guys as much as it does bigger ones. Especially happening when he's still growing. That could have really messed up his knee. If I'm a NBA team I'm watching very very close. If he doesn't come back this year I wouldn't take a chance on him going to the next stage and playing better than he can in college. If you can't make it in college you definitely dont have a chance in the NBA.