Kentucky faced a must win Tuesday night and with less than 20 seconds left, the score was tied at 65
Kentucky had the ball.

Of course the last shot would go to Kentucky’s shooter and SEC’s leading scorer- Jodie Meeks.

The capacity crowd, ESPN’s national audience, and the Florida Gators all knew it.

But somehow, as the seconds ticked away Meeks threw up an ugly shot which landed in the basket.

“That was the first time since I was in eighth grade that I made the game winning shot”, said Jodie Meeks.

The miraculous shot put the Wildcats up 3 with less than 10 seconds to go. Keep the ball out of Florida’s playmaker Nick Calathes’ hand and the Cats would win and all would be happy in the Bluegrass.

However, as Florida drove the court, Calathes threw up a three point shot of his own, missed but was fouled. Three free throws—for Florida’s leading scorer—made overtime a guarantee.

“After the foul I thought we would go to overtime. Calathes is a great player that normally makes those shots”, said Meeks after the game.

But, Calathes missed the first, the second, and the third.

Kentucky won 68-65, forced a four way tie atop the SEC East, and snapped a three game losing streak.

Following the game, outside the Florida Gator locker room, words of anger reverberated out of the Florida locker room. A frustrated Billy Donnavan screamed at his team and his players shared their displeasure with the outcome.

Keeping his head down, lacking eye contact, and obviously frustrated, Nick Calathes who scored 33 points in the game explained; “I would rather have scored 5 points and won.”

Kentucky showed heart and seemed to come together Tuesday night.

With Patrick Patterson unable to find his shot down low and Jodie Meeks unable produce all the offensive production, the rest of the Cats were able to pick up the slack.
Josh Harrelson, Kevin Galloway, and Michael Porter(Yes, Michael Porter), scored in double digits to help the Cats ge the victory.

The most impressive player had to be Kevin Galloway. The freshman drove the floor and made his way to the basket with such confidence all game. His play helped spark Kentucky’s late 10-0 run late in the fourth quarter.

The win was huge for the Wildcats as they are now in a four-way tie for first place in the SEC East. Kentucky’s back in the NCAA possible teams to make the big tournament in March and seem primed to make a run the remainder of the season.