Five things you need to know from Kentucky’s stunning 75-74 comeback win at LSU
Five things you need to know from Kentucky’s 75-74 win at LSU:
1. A mini-Mardi Gras Miracle. In falling behind 38-22 at halftime, Kentucky turned in a brutal first half.
The Wildcats made only 8 of 30 shots, 2 of 12 3-pointers and finished the first half with five turnovers vs. only two assists.
In half two, it was a very different Kentucky.
After falling behind 40-22 in the first minute of the second half, UK began to rally behind the play of senior guards Denzel Aberdeen and Otega Oweh.
Scoreless at halftime, Aberdeen scored 17 points in the second half. Oweh, meanwhile, had 15 of his 21 in half two.
Rallying relentlessly, UK took its first lead of the game, 69-68, when Kam Williams scored on a break-away dunk with 3:55 left.
In the final minute, it appeared Kentucky had gone ahead 74-72 when Oweh drained a 16-foot jumper with 42.8 seconds left.
However, after reviewing the replay, the officials correctly ruled that the ball was still in Oweh’s hand when the shot clock expired.
LSU then took the lead on a pair of Max Mackinnon free throws with 17 seconds left.
UK put the ball in Oweh’s hands on the ensuring possession, and the Wildcats star was fouled at the rim after a drive to the basket with 4.5 seconds left.
Oweh hit the first foul shot to pull Kentucky within 74-73, but his second missed off the rim.
LSU’s Pablo Tamba ended up with the ball and was fouled with less than two seconds remaining.
It appeared that UK’s bid to replicate the comeback victory in Baton Rouge that the 1993-94 Cats achieved after falling behind by 31 in the second half — long known as “the Mardi Gras Miracle” — was going to fall short.
But there was one more dramatic twist ahead.
2. Malachi Moreno is the hero. After LSU’s Pablo Tamba missed both of his free throw attempts, Oweh rebounded and the Wildcats called timeout. The officials placed 1.6 seconds on the clock.
Needing to go the length of the court, Kentucky’s Collin Chandler launched a three-quarters-court length pass. UK freshman center Malachi Moreno leapt above an LSU defender near the foul line to corral the pass.
Moreno then smoothly turned and buried a game-winning 15-foot jumper just ahead of the final buzzer.
This time, the replay review clearly showed that Moreno had gotten the shot off in time.
Just like that, Kentucky had another stunning comeback win in Baton Rouge.
3. Cats go with new starting lineup. With Jaland Lowe out for the season and Jayden Quaintance sidelined for the second-straight game, Mark Pope rolled out a revamped starting lineup in Baton Rouge.
Pope inserted sophomore forwards Kam Williams and Andrija Jelavic into the starting lineup alongside freshman center Malachi Moreno and senior guards Oweh and Aberdeen.
It was the fifth start of the season for Williams, and the first college start for Jelavic.
A 6-foot-11, 225-pound Croatian, Jelavic scored Kentucky’s first three points of the game. He finished with 11 points and five rebounds in 21 minutes.
The 6-8, 205-pound Williams, a product of Lafayette, Louisiana, got a start in his home state. He scored five points before fouling out in 28 minutes.
4. Mark Pope in road games. The victory in Baton Rouge was Kentucky’s first in a true road game this season after losses at Louisville (96-88) and at Alabama (89-74).
UK is now 5-8 on opponents’ home courts overall under Pope.
5. A coach on the hot seat. In seven seasons (2015 through 2022) as Murray State head man, Matt McMahon went 154-67 and took the Racers to the NCAA Tournament three times.
Things have not gone as well for McMahon since he turned his MSU success into the LSU head coaching job.
McMahon entered Wednesday night’s game with UK with a 57-57 overall mark as Tigers head coach. His three previous seasons at LSU yielded only one winning season, a 17-16 mark in 2023-24.
With LSU (12-4, 0-3 SEC entering UK game) having lost its first three Southeastern Conference game, new Tigers athletics director Verge Ausberry gave the “Tiger Rag” (LSU’s version of The Cats’ Pause) a blunt assessment of McMahon’s standing.
“If he doesn’t make it (the NCAA Tournament),” Ausberry told Tiger Rag’s Glenn Guilbeau, “we’ll have to reevaluate.”
Injuries haven’t done McMahon any favors. LSU played UK without point guard and leading scorer Dedan Thomas (16.2 points, 7.1 assists a game) and 6-foot-10, 245-pound big man Jalen Reed (9.5 points, 5.7 rebounds).
Given the LSU AD’s comments, Kentucky felt like it was all but a “must win” game for McMahon.
That he didn’t get it does not bode well for his future in Baton Rouge.
This story was originally published January 14, 2026 at 9:27 PM.
