Gonzaga entered Saturday night’s game having won 175 straight games and leading by double digits at halftime. This series ended early in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The No. 4 Kentucky Wildcats (8-1) overcame a 16-point halftime deficit and staged a stunning comeback against No. 7 Gonzaga (7-2), winning 90-89 in overtime. Head coach Mark Pope was without a starting point guard Lamont Butler (Ankle) and lost Kerr Kriisa to cramps in the second half, however Jaxson Robinson stepped up as lead guard and led his team to a huge win in Seattle.

Robinson finished the game with 18 points on 7-for-15 shooting along with five assists and three rebounds. However, the real hero of the evening was Andrew Carrwho scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half and overtime. Otega Oweh (13 points), Amari Williams (12) and Brandon Garrison rounded out the Wildcats’ double-digit scoring chances.

Pope later developed a 1-3-1 zone, which made the difference. His halftime adjustments shocked Gonzaga and the Bulldogs never found a solution. In the second half, the Zags went 0-for-9 from deep while Kentucky shot over 53 percent as a team. 16 points made for the biggest halftime comeback in school history.

The first half was as ugly as it could have been for the Wildcats. Kentucky actually came out with a few three-pointers and led 8-7 to start, but the offense slowed down from there and Gonzaga never looked back. Graham Ike in particular tore apart the British defense, scoring 18 points (6-9 FG) and eight rebounds in the first half alone, while Andrew Nembhard had up to eight points and seven assists.

Kentucky shot 33.3 percent in the first 20 minutes and just 5:17 from distance. Brandon Garrison had his moments on the bench, scoring eight points and four rebounds in the first half (he was also penalized with a very weak technical foul for celebrating an and-one). But it was the poor overall performance on both ends of the court (Gonzaga had nine more rebounds) that stood out. Great Britain went without a field goal in the final five minutes of the first half and trailed 50-34 at halftime.

A 16-point halftime deficit was Kentucky’s largest since November 2022 against… Gonzaga.

However, in the second half we were finally able to put an end to the Cats’ fight. A 13-0 run out of the gate (coupled with a successful zone defense possession!) sparked some much-needed momentum and quickly cut Gonzaga’s lead to single digits. A Koby Brea With the triple, the Bulldogs were just three points ahead with less than 12 minutes left at the media timeout. Gonzaga was ice cold from deep.

Kentucky continued to try to get over the hump. Kriisa’s loss with a cramp midway through the second half didn’t help, but two free throws from him did Ansley Almonor brought the Cats into a two-point hole. However, it proved difficult to get a defensive stop in time. But Kentucky took advantage whenever it could. Robinson’s jumper brought Great Britain within one point with just 90 seconds left in the game.

With just under 60 seconds left, Carr would finally decide the game for Kentucky with a fadeaway jumper. Gonzaga would miss a shot on the block on the next possession. The Cats grabbed the rebound, moved the ball across half court and called a timeout with just 24.5 seconds on the clock. But after the break, Oweh’s attempted lob was blocked in the final moments as the game went into overtime.

Without Butler and Kriisa, Robinson appeared as PG1. Kentucky scored the first seven points of overtime to take its lead for the first time since the game’s opening minutes. But Gonzaga responded at right-back with two consecutive three-pointers, making it 86-85 in favor of the Cats with 1:34 left. Carr countered with a layup at the rim, extending UK’s lead back to three. Robinson’s running score on the next UK possession as the shot clock expired gave the team a four-point lead.

Gonzaga would hit a three-pointer to increase Kentucky’s lead to 90-89, but there were only five seconds left. Carr was then fouled on the throw-in. Unfortunately, he missed both, but the Bulldogs couldn’t get a shot off before the buzzer as Kentucky pulled off the unlikely and historic upset.