The Kentucky Wildcats pulled off the remarkable as they beat the Gonzaga Bulldogs 90-89 in overtime. They were down 16 at the half and were down by as much as 18 at one point. The Kentucky Wildcats were playing so softly and unimpressively in the first half. Something changed in the second half because they came out fired up. It was almost like they said – “if we are going to die, we are going to die fighting to the last breath.”
Gonzaga had won 175 games that they had led by double digits at half-time. That streak is no more, and Mark Pope got to do it.
They chipped away and chipped away at that lead and eventually tied it up. Then, it went to overtime, where they took the lead and never let it up. It all happened without a point guard. Lamont Butler couldn’t play the whole game due to an injury, so Kerr Kriisa stepped in. He went out late in the second half due to injury and never returned. Jaxson Robinson mainly ran the point, but it was a little bit of a team effort.
Big Blue Nation lost their minds, in a good way on X.
We literally could post hundreds of these as so many posts are on X right now, responding to the huge win over the Bulldogs. It was an impressive win, as you will ever see. It was a win that you will talk about in the lore of Kentucky history forever. It was a game in which fans had counted the Wildcats out at half-time, and somehow, Mark Pope and his “built in the offseason” squad did it. They pulled it off.
Kentucky may have lost to Clemson on the road, but they learned something in that game and came back ready to knock off another top-10 program in Gonzaga. Mark Pope pulled a rabbit out of his hat. Without one of his best players, taking on one of the best teams, the Wildcats did it.
