UK Wildcats Basketball: Quade Green hits game-winning shot against Vanderbilt

Quade Green may be Kentucky’s second-best point guard, but he continues to have a very big role with this team.

The freshman guard was the starting point man to begin the season, but a back injury helped pave the way for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to take over the starting spot for good.

Since then, Shai has done nothing but cement his status as the starting point guard for the most legendary program in college basketball, but Green is too good of a player to fade into the abyss.

Example: In a game where Shai was the best player on the floor while scoring 30 points, Green still found a way to make a big impact. His stat line alone was respectable: 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting.

But in a game that his counterpart dominated, it was the Philly native hit the game-winning layup to give Kentucky a thrilling overtime win:

But the postgame love was the best part:

This team is flawed, but you have to love their fight, not to mention the love they have for each other, which is making them a very special group.

Heading into February, we’ve seen plenty of Kentucky teams that had a similar record as these 17-5 Cats do, but it’s hard to find one who’s fought harder for those 16-18 wins harder than this team has.

Who knows where this team will ultimately end up, but it’s been fun to watch them fight like hell to get this far. Here’s to hoping we’ve got 11 more weeks of it.