{"id":134038,"date":"2026-01-22T21:05:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T21:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/134038\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T21:05:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T21:05:10","slug":"stars-of-the-game-from-kentuckys-narrow-win-over-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/134038\/","title":{"rendered":"Stars of the game from Kentucky\u2019s narrow win over Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Kam Williams left Kentucky Basketball<\/a>\u2019s 85-80 win over Texas with a foot injury, it was a moment that could have swung the game in favor of the Longhorns.<\/p>\n

But when Williams went out with 18:11 remaining in the second half and Kentucky leading 46-42, Collin Chandler checked in, and the rest is history.<\/p>\n

Chandler, who was battling an illness coming into Wednesday night\u2019s game, proceeded to have a game-changing second half that helped the Wildcats break the game open and preserve their fourth straight win.<\/p>\n

Chandler was one of many stars who stood out and carried the Wildcats over the finish line in a back-and-forth battle against the Longhorns on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

1. Collin Chandler: 18 pts, 5\/9 FG (2\/4 3-PT FG), 6\/6 FT, 7 rebs, 1 ast., 2 stl, 32 mins<\/p>\n

Chandler was, without question, the biggest star in Kentucky\u2019s win Wednesday night. When he entered the game less than two minutes into the second half, he proceeded to score 14 of his 18 points in the final 18:11 of the game. In addition, he made two 3-pointers and went 4\/4 from the free-throw line.<\/p>\n

What made Wednesday night\u2019s performance even better was that he did it while battling an illness.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was never a doubt on whether I was going to play or not,\u201d Chandler said after the game. \u201cI haven\u2019t been feverish, which has been the nicest thing about it, but there\u2019s been stuff going around. That\u2019s just how the winter is, so it\u2019s something I get every year.\u201d<\/p>\n

After going eight straight games without scoring in double figures, Chandler has scored double-digit points in back-to-back games to increase his season scoring average by over half a point per game. In his last three games, Chandler is 8\/14 from 3-point range and has six steals, while also pulling down 13 rebounds.<\/p>\n

2. Otega Oweh: 18 pts, 8\/20 FG, 2\/2 FT, 3 rebs (2 off.), 1 stl, 36 mins<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a great night for the Wildcats when Otega Oweh \u201cquietly\u201d has 18 points. It may have taken him 20 shot attempts to get there, but he grinded out all 18 of his points in 36 valiant minutes.<\/p>\n

Oweh\u2019s two biggest points came at the free-throw line with 10:18 remaining in the game, a result of a flagrant one by the Longhorns as Oweh was driving to the rim on a fast break.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re really playing connected,\u201d Oweh said after the game about the team\u2019s confidence with four straight wins. \u201cWe\u2019re focusing on the defensive end and trying to get out in transition. I feel like when we do that, it sets us up for our offense, even in the half-court.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ever since Oweh posted a picture of Mark Pope on his Instagram story, saying to fans, \u201cnot to worry,\u201d Kentucky has won four straight games. Kentucky\u2019s leader is playing like it this month, and the rest of the team is completely following him.<\/p>\n

3. Denzel Aberdeen: 19 pts, 4\/10 FG (2\/5 3-PT FG), 9\/12 FT, 1 reb., 1 ast., 1 sta., 32 mins<\/p>\n

Aberdeen made six free throws in the final 1:19 of the game to seal Kentucky\u2019s victory. He went 9\/12 from the free-throw line, and six of those makes came in the final 1:19 of the game<\/p>\n

Over his last four games, Aberdeen is 9\/17 from 3-point range and has scored in double figures in all four, raising his scoring average by over 1.5 points per game.<\/p>\n

4. Malachi Moreno: 8 pts, 2\/6 FG, 4\/5 FT, 4 rebs (3 off.), 6 ast., 5 blk, 26 mins, +19<\/p>\n

Moreno was fantastic in so many facets on Wednesday night. He stuffed the stat sheet and made an impact in multiple areas.<\/p>\n

Mark Pope calls him a seven-foot freshman who is a head coach on the floor. Moreno also drew praise from Texas head coach Sean Miller.<\/p>\n

\u201cMalachi is a terrific young player, I think he\u2019s one of the best freshmen in the country and certainly has a big role in Kentucky\u2019s team,\u201d Miller said. \u201cEveryone likes to judge these guys on one snapshot, but you forget he\u2019s nineteen years old and from Northern Kentucky. He\u2019s playing in games that he\u2019s never played before. I think he\u2019s only going to continue to get better.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a wonderful kid and comes from a great family as well. I thought he did a great job tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller added that he thought Moreno influenced Texas\u2019s seven-foot center Matas Vokietaitis into missing nine of his 14 shot attempts.<\/p>\n

5. Andrija Jelavic: 4 pts, 2\/2 FG, 7 rebs, 1 ast., 2 stl, 18 mins, +18<\/p>\n

Jelavic made his third start of the season Wednesday night, and it was his go-ahead bucket with 10:42 remaining that gave the Wildcats a lead they would not relinquish.<\/p>\n

Those were just two of his four points Wednesday night, but Jelavic also led the Wildcats with seven rebounds and was +18 from the floor while stuffing the stat sheet.<\/p>\n

Over his last three games, Jelavic has 13 rebounds and is 8\/13 from the floor. Kentucky is going to need him to keep producing, especially now that Kam Williams is out. Williams was getting plenty of run at the 4 spot, and that\u2019s where Jelavic primarily plays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Kam Williams left Kentucky Basketball\u2019s 85-80 win over Texas with a foot injury, it was a moment…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":134039,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[13321,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-134038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-kentucky-wildcats-basketball","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}