Kentucky Wildcats rally past WVU: Highlights, box score and game MVP

The Kentucky Wildcats just scored one of the best wins of the John Calipari.

That looked far from being a reality when the Cats were getting hammered in Morgantown, trailing by as many as 17 points in the second half. But slowly and methodically, the Cats battled back and chipped away at what seemed like an insurmountable lead against a top-10 Mountaineers team.

By the 11:35 mark, Kentucky took the lead and left the rocking Morgantown crowded stunned in silence. But West Virginia would rebound to take the lead thanks to a pair of threes by Kentucky native James ‘Beetle’ Bolden.

At this point, it seemed like the young Cats had run out of gas after a valiant effort to get back into this game.

But they were far from done.

Thanks to a strong finish by Nick Richards and Kevin Knox — including a go-ahead three by Knox with 1:08 left — Kentucky would escape with one of the best and most satisfying wins of the John Calipari era, 83-76. Richards and Knox combined for 13 points in the final seven minutes, highlighted by Richards’ putback dunk with 33 seconds left to put Kentucky up 79-74.

GAME MVP

This game will be remembered as the one Kevin Knox truly established himself as a star. We’ve seen plenty of potential to be one from the fresham from Tampa, but he’s never put it together enough to consider him one.

That is, until he scored 34 points on the road against one of the best defenses in college basketball. He did so on an efficient 11-of-17 shooting, including a 7-of-8 mark from the charity stripe to go with seven boards.

When the season is over and Knox announces he’s leaving for the NBA Draft, don’t be sad he’s leaving. Think back to the great memory of this night, because that’s what locked him into being a lottery pick in this year’s draft.

Here is the final box score:

Re-live the memorable wins thanks to some highlights from Sports Replay and Kentucky Wildcats TV:

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