Clemson Prevails Over Kentucky in Competitive Contest Otega Oweh contributed 17 points and seven rebounds, but No. 4 Kentucky faced its first defeat of the season on Tuesday, losing to Clemson 70-66. Lamont Butler added 16 points and five assists for the Wildcats, while Jaxson Robinson scored 12 points for UK. Kentucky (7-1) opened the […]
Clemson Prevails Over Kentucky in Competitive Contest
Otega Oweh contributed 17 points and seven rebounds, but No. 4 Kentucky faced its first defeat of the season on Tuesday, losing to Clemson 70-66.
Lamont Butler added 16 points and five assists for the Wildcats, while Jaxson Robinson scored 12 points for UK.
Kentucky (7-1) opened the scoring with a Robinson three-pointer. After Clemson landed a couple of free throws, Butler drove to the basket, scored, and drew a foul, converting the free throw for a 6-2 lead early on.
With Kentucky up 7-5, the Wildcats scored four consecutive points to extend their lead to 11-5. Yet, Clemson responded with a seven-point run to take the lead for the first time, 12-11. A three from Koby Brea then regained the lead for UK at 14-12, with 13:11 to go in the first half. Andrew Carr hit a three to push it to 17-12, but Clemson quickly countered with a three-pointer of its own, making it 17-15.
A pair of free throws from Oweh pushed UK ahead 19-15, but Clemson then scored eight straight points to take a 23-19 lead. UK quickly answered back with a 9-0 run featuring a Robinson three, a Butler layup, an Oweh steal and dunk, followed by an Oweh jumper, giving the Cats a 28-23 lead with 5:45 remaining in the half.
Clemson (8-1) countered by scoring the next 10 points, leading 33-28 before UK managed a layup from Ansley Almonor. Clemson capped off the half with four consecutive points, leading 37-30 at the break.
In the second half, Kentucky opened the scoring with a three-pointer from Oweh. After a basket from Clemson, UK got a layup from Amari Williams, followed by another layup in transition from Oweh, bringing it to 39-37. After another three from Clemson, the Cats responded with a Brandon Garrison layup off a lob from Butler, narrowing the margin to 42-39.
Another basket from Oweh brought UK within one, then a Williams basket pushed the Cats ahead 43-42. Following a couple of free throws for the Tigers, Robinson scored to give Kentucky a 45-44 lead, but again Clemson quickly scored to go up 46-45.
The tight contest continued as Butler scored at the rim for a 47-46 UK lead. Clemson responded with a banked three to make it 49-47. Carr tied the game with two free throws, but the Tigers regained the lead with a basket, going up 51-49. Butler then sank a three-pointer, allowing UK to reclaim the lead at 52-51 with 10:57 left.
Clemson responded swiftly, scoring the next five points to lead 56-52, before Oweh made two free throws to cut it to 56-54 with 8:13 left. Clemson then netted the next five points to stretch their advantage to 61-54. Williams scored in the post to bring the Cats within five, then Robinson hit a putback to reduce the margin to 61-58 with 5:25 remaining.
The Tigers responded once more, scoring five straight points to lead 66-58. A layup from Robinson trimmed the UK deficit to 66-60. A close-range basket from Williams further narrowed the gap to 66-62. Clemson converted two free throws to increase the lead to 68-62. A free throw from Butler, followed by a three-pointer, narrowed the score to 68-66 with two seconds left. The Tigers then sealed the win with two free throws.
Additional highlights from the game include:
• UK limited Clemson to 24-65 shooting (32%). This season, Kentucky has held seven of its eight opponents to under 40 percent shooting from the field
• The match featured four ties and 13 lead changes
• The rebounding battle ended in a tie, with each team grabbing 44 total rebounds – 29 defensive and 15 offensive boards
• UK held a 13-10 advantage in second-chance points and won the points in the paint battle, 30-26
