The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
7-1
Kentucky
8-0
No. 6/7 Men's Basketball falls at No. 1/1 Kentucky, 63-51
12.06.2014 | Men's Basketball
Longhorns drop their first game of season
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Jonathan Holmes scored 14 points and Demarcus Holland added 10 points and five assists, but that would not be enough as the No. 6/7 Texas Longhorns fell to No. 1/1 Kentucky, 63-51, on Friday night at Rupp Arena.
Texas (7-1) recorded a costly 22 turnovers and could not overcome an 18-2 run by Kentucky (8-0) early in the second half.
The Horns out-rebounded Kentucky 42-31 and held the Wildcats to 37.5 percent (32.0 percent in the first half) shooting from the field. Kentucky was averaging 14.6 more rebounds than its opponents entering Friday's contest.
Instead, it was the Longhorns dominating the glass. Junior forward Connor Lammert led the Horns with nine rebounds while pitching in five points. Texas posted a rebound margin of double digits for the sixth time in eight games.
Kentucky's Willie Cauley-Stein led the Wildcats with a double-double, posting 21 points and 12 rebounds. He was 9-of-12 at the free-throw line.
Texas missed nine free throws in the first half but recovered to shoot 90 percent in the second frame. The gap was still too much to overcome down the stretch.
The teams entered the locker room tied at halftime with 26 points apiece. Texas was able to limit Kentucky's offense to 32 percent shooting, including 0-for-5 from beyond the arc.
Texas also struggled to make baskets early on, with its defense keeping Kentucky out of rhythm. Cauley-Stein hit a bucket with 32 seconds remaining in the half to tie it at the break. It was the seventh tie of the half with also seven lead changes in the opening 20 minutes.
Out of the break, Kentucky came out firing. The Wildcats jumped to a quick 10-point lead and built it to as many as 16 with 11:20 remaining.
After only scoring two points in nearly the first nine minutes of the second half, Texas began chipping away at Kentucky's lead. It was too much to overcome, however.
A three-pointer from Holland started the move, and four straight points from Myles Turner made it a 7-0 run for the Longhorns, forcing a Kentucky timeout with 9:55 remaining.
The Wildcats increased their lead to 49-35 but Texas would not bow down, thanks to a Javan Felix three-pointer and a steal and layup-and-one from Holland, to cut it to eight.
Holmes scored four straight points making it an 11-2 run for Texas to trim the margin to 51-46 with 4:32 remaining.
After missing its first 11 attempts, Kentucky made its first three-pointer of the night with 2:47 remaining to make it 56-47 and grab the momentum back.
The Horns would come within five but the Wildcats scored the last seven points of the game to close it out.
Texas returns home to face Texas State on Saturday, Dec. 13 at the Frank Erwin Center. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Central and will be nationally broadcast on Longhorn Network.
Texas Basketball Postgame Notes
No. 6/7 Texas 51, No. 1/1 Kentucky 63
Rupp Arena (Lexington, Kentucky)
Attendance: 24,340
Team Notes
- Texas out-rebounded Kentucky 42-31 to mark the first time the Wildcats have been bested on the glass this season. It marked the sixth time in eight games Texas has out-rebounded its opponent by double digits.
- The Longhorns won the battle on the glass 27-11 in the first half (13-2 on offensive glass).
- Entering Friday's game, Kentucky was pulling down 14.6 more rebounds per game than its opponents.
- UT's record against teams ranked No. 1 in the AP poll is now 0-8. The last meeting against a top-ranked team came on Feb. 8, 2010 against Kansas.
- Texas is now 0-2 against Kentucky with its only other loss coming on Nov. 21, 1993 at the Maui Invitational, 86-61.
- The Longhorns pulled down 16 offensive rebounds but were able to convert that into only five second-chance points.
- Texas held Kentucky to just 37.5% FG shooting on 21-of-56 from the field.
- UT is now 244-27 in the Rick Barnes era when holding its opponent below 40% FG shooting (7-1 this year).
- Led the Longhorns with 14 points (5-of-7 FT). It was the fifth time this season he has scored in double digits and 47th in his career (103 games).
- Tied a career-high with six rebounds. He had four on the offensive end for the Longhorns.
- He has pulled down six rebounds three times this season.
- Scored in double digits for the fourth time this season with 10 points. It is the 15th time in his career he has scored in double figures (77 games).
- Posted a season-high five assists to lead the Longhorns.
- Had a 5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio with only one turnover on the night.
- Tied a season high with nine rebounds. He also posted that mark against Cal in New York in the championship game of the 2K Classic.
