College basketball final: Gonzaga Bulldogs 89, Kentucky Wildcats 85

The Kentucky men’s basketball team steps out of SEC play on Saturday to face the Gonzaga Bulldogs in a 4 p.m. tipoff at Rupp Arena.

CBS has the telecast with Brad Nessler, Bill Raftery and Jay Wright.

Ben Roberts, Mark Story, Cameron Drummond, Silas Walker and yours truly will be providing updates. You can follow us individually on Twitter/X at @BenRobertsHL, @markcstory, @cdrummond97, and @sigh_las and @johnclayiv.

Or you can follow a dedicated Twitter/X list by clicking here.

Final: Gonzaga 89, Kentucky 85

Kentucky loses three in a row at home for the first time since 1966.

UK now 16-7 on the season. Gonzaga improves to 17-6.

Final box

2H at 0:43.3 - Gonzaga 86, Kentucky 84

Gonzaga’s Graham Ike just fouled out after scoring 23 points. UK’s Reed Sheppard has 21 points.

2H at 3:49 - Gonzaga 77, Kentucky 75

Kentucky’s Reed Sheppard giveth, then taketh away. He turned the ball over on a pass, but blocked Nolan Hickman’s three-point shot, grabbed the ball out of the air and proceeded to a 3-point play of his own, the old-fashioned way, to tie the game at 75 with 4:07 left. But Gonzaga’s Watson scored inside to put Zags back in front 77-75. Watson was also fouled. He’ll be at the line when we come back from the TV timeout.

2H at 7:55 - Gonzaga 67-66

Gonzaga has gone back in front here at Rupp. An open three-pointer by Anton Watson put the Zags up 67-66 with 8:20 remaining. Gonzaga is shooting 43.9% for the game. Kentucky is shooting 43.4%. From here on out, game will be decided by execution.

2H at 13:24 - Kentucky 52-51

Kentucky on a 7-0 run, capped by an Antonio Reeves 3-pointer for a 52-51 Wildcats’ lead. Mark Few calls his second timeout of the half. This one with 13:24 left. UK has rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit. Crowd into it.

2H at 17:09 - Gonzaga 46-42

Kentucky starts second half with a 10-4 run cutting Gonzaga’s lead to 46-42. Mark Few wants a timeout with 17:09 left in the game. UK’s Adou Thiero has eight points, three rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.

Halftime: Gonzaga 42-32

This is UK’s largest halftime deficit since trailing at Georgia 42-32 on Feb. 11, 2023. Kentucky lost 75-68. Largest home halftime deficit since trailing South Carolina 42-32 on Jan. 10, 2023. UK lost 71-68.

Kentucky is 2-5 when trailing at the half this season.

Kentucky shot 32.3% the first half. Gonzaga shot 46.2%.

Halftime box

1H at 4:00 - Gonzaga 30, Kentucky 27

Gonzaga is 13-of-32 from the floor for 40.6 percent. The Zags are just 2-of-11 from 3-point range for 18.2%. Kentucky is 9-of-27 from the floor for 33.3%. The Cats are 2-of-9 from three for 22.2%. Thiero leads UK with eight points. Hickman leads Gonzaga with 11 points. Graham Ike has 10.

1H at 7:13 - Gonzaga 25-20

It appears that Gonzaga is getting every 50-50 ball. This is diving John Calipari nuts, of course. After the Zags came up with another loose ball, the Kentucky coach did a near 360-spin in frustration on the sideline.

1H at 11:00 - Gonzaga 21, Kentucky 15

UK highlight so far has been Adou Thiero, who has eight early points. Two of the sophomore forward’s baskets have come on dunks off rebounds. One was his own missed shot. The other was off a Rob Dillingham miss. Kentucky is 5-of-15 from the field. Gonzaga is 9-of-16. The Zags own a 11-7 edge on the boards.

1H at 15:36 - Gonzaga 13-6

The visiting Bulldogs sprinted to an 11-4 lead causing UK’s John Calipari to call time at 16:47 mark. It’s 13-6 Bulldogs at the 15:36 TV timeout. Former UK signee Nolan Hickman has six points already for the Zags. Kentucky is 3-of-8 from the floor.

Who’s playing and who’s not

Cameron Drummond has the details on the Kentucky basketball medical report. After missing the last three games, D.J. Wagner is back, but will not start. Tre Mitchell will miss his second straight game because of a back problem.

Not even on his birthday, does John Calipari have a “full roster.”

Officials for Kentucky-Gonzaga

Officials for Kentucky-Gonzaga are Terry Oglesy, Byron Jarrett and Todd Austin.

Oglesby has worked three UK games this season. He worked the Wildcats’ 89-84 loss to Kansas in the Champions Classic on Nov. 14. He worked Kentucky’s 96-88 overtime win over Saint Joseph’s at Rupp Arena on Nov. 20. He worked the Cats’ 87-85 victory at Florida on Jan. 6, the SEC opener for both teams.

Jarrett has also worked three UK games this season. He worked the Cats’ 95-73 romp over Miami at Rupp Arena in the ACC/SEC Challenge on Nov. 28. Jarrett worked UK’s 90-77 victory over Missouri on Jan. 9. He also worked Kentucky’s 79-62 loss at South Carolina on Jan. 23.

This will be Austin’s first Kentucky game this season. He last worked a UK game on Feb. 4, 2023, a 72-67 victory over Florida.

Kentucky-Gonzaga computer preview

Both teams aare 16-6 overall. Kentucky is 23rd in the latest NCAA NET rankings. The Cats are 2-4 in Quad 1 games. Saturday’s game qualifies as a Quad 1 game for both teams as Gonzaga is 25th in the rankings. The Zags are 0-5 in Quad 1 games.

Gonzaga has been to 24 consecutive NCAA Tournaments.

Kentucky enters Saturday’s game ranked No. 24 in adjusted overall efficiency by kenpom. The Cats are ranked 5th in adjusted offensive efficiency and 102nd in adjusted defensive efficiency.

Gonzaga enters the game 22nd in adjusted overall efficiency according to kenpom. The Bulldogs are 28th in adjusted offensive efficiency and 34th in adjusted defensive efficiency.

Before this season, the Bulldogs ranked No. 1 in adjusted overall efficiency in four out of five seasons -- 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2022-23.

This Gonzaga ranks ninth nationally in two-point field goal percentage at 57.8. The Zags are 166th in 3-point percentage at 34%, but were 15-of-33 from 3-point territory in the 96-64 thrashing of Portland on Wednesday night.

Kentucky is second nationally in 3-point percentage at 41.1%. The Cats were a sizzling 15-of-26 for 57.7% from beyond the arc in their 109-77 rout of Vanderbilt in Nashville on Tuesday night.

Kentucky basketball roster

Kentucky basketball statistics

Gonzaga basketball roster

Gonzaga basketball statistics

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