{"id":539477,"date":"2026-03-23T00:18:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T00:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/539477\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T00:18:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T00:18:12","slug":"the-possession-that-flipped-the-script-in-kentuckys-loss-to-iowa-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/539477\/","title":{"rendered":"The Possession That Flipped the Script in Kentucky’s Loss to Iowa State"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you see the final score<\/a>, it\u2019s hard to believe that Kentucky had the upper hand for most of the first half of the second round NCAA Tournament matchup with Iowa State.<\/p>\n

The Cats opened the game 8-12 from the field, draining four three-pointers in the first eight minutes to build up a 20-9 lead. Iowa State responded with an 11-0 run to tie the game, but Kentucky found a way to recreate enough magic and build up a nice lead as the clock ticked toward halftime. <\/p>\n

The score was 30-23 with two minutes remaining. Kentucky played outstanding defense for the entire shot clock, when Iowa State threw one at the rim. The ball hit Malachi Moreno<\/a> in the hands. He could not corral the rebound. The ball bounced around to Milan Momcilovic<\/a> as Kentucky\u2019s freshman center tumbled to the floor. Iowa State\u2019s 50% three-point shooter hit just the second three-pointer of the game for the Cyclones. <\/p>\n

The error was amplified by another on the ensuing Kentucky possession. The chaos continued down the court, allowing Kam Williams<\/a> to wriggle free unguarded. He drove to the lane for an easy dunk, but as he stepped to catch the pass, he stepped on the end-line, out of bounds. It was one of 20 Kentucky turnovers. <\/p>\n

That quick segment got the snowball rolling downhill until it steamrolled Kentucky. The Cats had a chance to lead by as many as double-digits going into halftime. Instead of extending the lead, it evaporated. Iowa State went on an 8-0 run, taking the lead with Nate Heise<\/a>\u2018s corner three as the clock struck zero. <\/p>\n

Everything Kentucky needed to pull off the NCAA Tournament upset happened in the opening minutes of this game. Collin Chandler<\/a> made his first two threes, including one that rolled around the rim and in. The Cats were defending well, and Iowa State couldn\u2019t buy an outside shot.<\/p>\n

Kentucky had an opportunity to take a double-digit lead into halftime and apply real game-pressure on Iowa State. Instead, they gave the Cyclones momentum entering the halftime locker room. Iowa State used that momentum to shoot 63.3% in the second half and 6-12 from three. <\/p>\n

Big Blue Nation was filled with hope for almost an entire half, but is left seething entering a crucial offseason for Mark Pope<\/a>. <\/p>\n

More postgame coverage is on the way on the KSR YouTube Channel. Subscribe today to see press conferences, interviews, Rapid Reaction, and more.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When you see the final score, it\u2019s hard to believe that Kentucky had the upper hand for most…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539478,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[59335,81304,31019,241596,241597,99],"class_list":["post-539477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-collin-chandler-22-farmington","tag-kam-williams-24-lafayette-christian-academy","tag-malachi-moreno-25-great-crossing","tag-milan-momcilovic-23-pewaukee","tag-nate-heise-20-lincoln-secondary","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=539477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=539477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=539477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=539477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}