LEXINGTON – October 28, 2026 – Michael Willis
Kentucky defeated the UCF Knights earlier tonight in a 90-76 overtime victory. The 14-point victory makes it seem as though the Wildcats easily defeated the Knights; however, that was not the case. The Cats played uninspired basketball for the majority of regulation and nearly lost their third and final exhibition game.
After leading by as many as 13 points in the first half, Central Florida outscored Kentucky 13-4 over the final 2:41 of the half to cut the Cats’ lead to 39-35 at halftime. The Wildcats played relatively good defense, but the Knights’ three-point shooting and free throws kept them in the game. UCF made nine of its 10 free-throw attempts and four of its six three-pointers over the final 4:16 of the half. It appeared the Cats became too comfortable with their lead and let up defensively as the half came to a close.
The effort did not improve for the Cats in the second half. After building a 10-point lead with 11:54 remaining, Kentucky allowed the Knights to slowly chip away at the deficit and eventually take the lead. With Kentucky trailing 71-69 and just five seconds remaining, Alex Wilkins drove to the basket and made a buzzer-beating layup to send the game into overtime.
The close call lit a fire under the Cats, who outscored the Knights 19-5 in the overtime period to secure a 90-76 victory. The five-minute overtime was by far Kentucky’s best stretch of basketball and its strongest display of effort all night. The performance leaves fans wondering just how good this team could be if it maintained that same focus and intensity for an entire game.
Milan Momcilovic led the Cats in scoring with 19 points, including seven in overtime to help push Kentucky to victory.
Malachi Moreno made an impact across the stat sheet and nearly recorded a triple-double. Moreno finished the night with 16 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists. It was perhaps his best performance as a Wildcat, and his all-around contribution may have been the difference between Kentucky leaving with a win and suffering a loss.
Mark Pope also showed confidence in guard Mason Williams. Williams finished with 18 points and remained on the floor down the stretch over starting point guard Zoom Diallo. Williams recorded the second-highest plus-minus on the team at plus-19 and played a major role in helping the Cats escaping with a victory.
