No. 23 Kentucky had already let a 12-point second-half lead disappear when No. 19 Texas Tech tied Friday's exhibition at 54. That is a more useful place to begin than the 76-65 final. A new group had to find dependable possessions after its first comfortable stretch stopped working.
Kentucky's postgame notes put Mason Williams at the center of the answer. He made a three with 7:51 left, stole the ball on the next sequence and later scored in the lane. Alex Wilkins added two free throws and two threes. Kentucky outscored Tech 22-11 from the 54-54 tie. Those were actual late answers against another ranked team, even in a game that will not count in the standings.
The passes held up before the run
The Wildcats recorded 18 assists on 25 made baskets. Wilkins supplied seven assists, and five Kentucky players scored at least 10 points. A high assist count cannot describe every good possession, but it does show that the offense produced shots for several players. Kentucky also committed only four turnovers over the final 29 minutes after a rougher opening stretch. That ball security gave the late scorers chances to decide the game.
The result answers a different question from CBR's earlier Little Rock exhibition report, which followed Kentucky's changing three-point accuracy, and from CBR's Texas Tech frontcourt preview. Friday gave Kentucky a completed test of how it responded when a ranked opponent erased its lead. The response came from a reserve freshman and a guard distributing the ball as well as shooting it.
There are limits. Texas Tech reported that it made eight of 30 threes and attempted only six free throws, compared with Kentucky's 22. Those gaps helped shape the final margin. A single exhibition cannot establish a late-game identity. The next useful check is whether Wilkins and Williams can make similarly sound decisions when a defense takes away the first option.
