College basketball final: UNC Wilmington 80, No. 12 Kentucky 73
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Game day: UNC Wilmington 80, No. 12 Kentucky 73
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and UNC Wilmington in Rupp Arena.
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Fresh off a 95-73 win over No. 8 Miami on Tuesday, the Kentucky Wildcats are back in action on Saturday to play the UNC Wilmington Seahawks in a 4 p.m. college basketball game at Rupp Arena. The SEC Network has the television coverage.
For updates, follow Ben Roberts at @BenRobertsHL, Mark Story at @markcstory, and myself at @johnclayiv on Twitter/X.
You can follow a UK basketball X.com list here.
Final: UNC Wilmington 80, Kentucky 73
UNC Wilmington pulls off the upset at Rupp Arena, defeating Kentucky 80-73. Trazerian White scored a career-high 27 points for the winners, now 6-2 on the season. The Seahawks held Kentucky to 10 fast break points. UK had 23 fast break points in its 95-73 victory over No. 8 Miami on Tuesday.
Reed Sheppard led the Wildcats with 25 points. UK shot just 40.7 percent from the floor. The Cats were only 5-of-19 from three-point range.
UNC Wilmington leads 64-62 with 5:02 left
The Seahawks went on a 13-1 run for a 62-55 lead over Kentucky. Back-to-back buckets by UK’s Reed Sheppard has cut the lead to 64-62. Sheppard has 20 points.
Kentucky leads 55-52 with 11:20 remaining
UK opened the second half on a 15-5 run. When Reed Sheppard hit a three from the left wing with 15:36 left, the Wildcats had their first lead of the game, 48-46. At the 12:49 mark, Sheppard hit another three to stretch the home team’s advantage to 55-49.
Halftime: UNC Wilmington 41, Kentucky 33
For the first time this season, Kentuck trails at the half. Visiting UNC Wilmington leads 41-33. The Seahawks were 8-of-20 from three-point range in the first half. The host Wildcats were just 2-of-8.
Turnovers were the big surprise on UK’s end. The Cats committed nine in the first half. Kentucky commited nine or fewer in six of their first seven games. That’s the entire game. In fact, UK entered the game leading the nation in turnover percentage at 10.7, according to kenpom.
UNC Wilmington’s KJ Jenkins leads all scorers with 11 points. Donovan Newby scored 10 for the Seahawks. Reed Sheppard and Tre Mitchell each scored seven points for the Wildcats. UK shot 38.5 percent. UNCW shot 43.2 percent.
Kentucky trails 17-10 with 11:51 left in first half
UK off to a slow start. Trailed 13-4 when John Calipari called time at the 15:01 mark and inserted Aaron Bradshaw into the game. The 7-foot-1 freshman played 2 1/2 minutes before returning to the bench. Had a dunk on offensive end, a goal-tend on defensive end. Made 1 of 2 free throws.
Aaron Bradshaw to make his debut
UK coach John Calipari confirmed on his pre-game radio show that the plan is for 7-foot-1 freshman Aaron Bradshaw to see his first action of the season. Bradshaw has not played since injuring his foot in the McDonald’s All-American game last spring.
Kentucky guard D.J. Wagner out for this game
Ben Roberts has the details as UK freshman guard D.J. Wagner will not play against UNC Wilmington. Wagner was injured in Tuesday’s win over Miami. Through seven games, Wagner is averaging 13.1 points and 3.3 rebounds for the Wildcats. Reed Sheppard is starting in place of Wagner.
This story was originally published December 2, 2023 at 3:00 PM.
