Kentucky needs overtime — and some big shots late — to stop upset bid from Saint Joseph’s
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Game day: No. 16 Kentucky 96, Saint Joseph’s 88 (OT)
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Monday night’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Saint Joseph’s in Rupp Arena.
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Saint Joseph’s didn’t make it easy on the Wildcats.
No. 16-ranked Kentucky defeated the Hawks 96-88 in overtime on Monday night, but the Cats had to overcome another slow start, several precarious moments and five extra minutes to win a game that was never out of reach for upset-minded Saint Joe’s.
Tre Mitchell hit back-to-back 3-pointers early in the extra period to give UK an 83-79 lead, and D.J. Wagner made a strong drive at the basket to put UK up 87-81 with a little more than a minute left. The Hawks cut Kentucky’s advantage to three points in the final minute, but they couldn’t get any closer than that.
A putback dunk by Justin Edwards with 32 seconds left put the Cats ahead 91-86, making it a two-possession game and putting a exclamation point on an uneasy night for Kentucky.
It was a frenetic ending to the second half, too.
The Hawks took a 76-75 lead with Cameron Brown’s 3-pointer to beat the shot clock with 44 seconds left in regulation. Mitchell’s putback dunk with 29 seconds left put Kentucky ahead 77-76, but Mitchell was forced to foul Saint Joe’s center Christ Essandoko to prevent an easy layup with 14 seconds remaining. Essandoko made the first free throw but missed the second. D.J Wagner then missed a midrange jumper on the other end, and the game went to overtime tied at 77-all.
Kentucky never held a double-digit lead in the game.
Mitchell impacted the game in several ways yet again, finishing with 22 points, six rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots. Wagner had his moments — especially in the second half and overtime — tallying career-highs of 21 points and six assists. He made 7 of 8 free throws.
Antonio Reeves celebrated his 23rd birthday with 20 points. He also grabbed five rebounds, the fifth-year guard’s fourth consecutive game with at least five boards. Rob Dillingham (13 points) and Edwards (12 points) also finished in double figures, while Reed Sheppard recorded four assists and five steals in 25 minutes off the bench. He didn’t score and attempted just one shot (a missed 3-pointer) three days after scoring 25 points in a 101-67 victory over Stonehill College.
The Cats had another good night from behind the 3-point arc, going 12-for-25 from long range against the Hawks. UK made 17 of 32 3-pointers in Friday’s win over Stonehill, the most makes in John Calipari’s 14-plus seasons as the Wildcats’ coach.
Erik Reynolds II scored 28 points and went 6-for-12 from 3-point range to lead Saint Joseph’s, which made a total of 15 3-pointers.
Kentucky (4-1) got off to another poor start — a common occurrence so far this season — against the Hawks, who made 3 of 5 shots to begin the game and jumped out to a 7-2 lead as the Cats missed five of their first six attempts from the floor. UK didn’t get its first lead until Dillingham hit a 3-pointer in transition with 10:44 left in the first half. Kentucky led by as many as eight points later in the half, but the Hawks ended up tying the game in the final minute before halftime, and UK was up just 41-38 at the break.
Saint Joseph’s entered the game with a 3-1 record following a surprise 57-54 loss to Texas A&M-Commerce on Friday night. The Hawks were rated No. 123 by KenPom coming into the night, making them UK’s best competition — other than the loss to No. 1-ranked Kansas — so far by a pretty wide margin. The Cats’ other three opponents were No. 212, No. 289 and No. 352 in the KenPom ratings, and Kentucky won those games by an average of 31.3 points.
UK was a 15-point favorite over Saint Joseph’s before tipoff Monday night.
Kentucky’s next game
The Wildcats will host Marshall at 7 p.m. Friday, the first meeting between the nearby schools in 11 years. Kentucky has a perfect 12-0 all-time record against the Thundering Herd, who have never played the Cats closer than 13 points in any of those games.
Marshall has a 2-2 record following Monday’s 80-69 victory over Florida International, and the Herd entered the day at No. 192 in the KenPom ratings.
Coach Dan D’Antoni typically goes with a fast style — Marshall is among the highest tempo teams in the country — and that could lead to some exciting basketball in Rupp. The game will be shown on the SEC Network.
This story was originally published November 20, 2023 at 9:16 PM.
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