On Wednesday, Jan. 7, Jayden Quaintance participated in his first game as a starter for Kentucky, notching 18 minutes against the Missouri Tigers.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t played since.

On Tuesday, Jan. 20, Mark Pope officially announced that the sophomore big will miss his fourth straight game and will be on the Kentucky bench yet again vs. Texas.

Members of Big Blue Nation are all likely wondering the same thing – how long will the sophomore’s knee swelling ride out and when will he make his return?

“He’s making progress,” Pope said. “We’re super optimistic…he’s kind of going through the process and hopefully he’ll be back soon.”

Pope, knowing that the moment any fan hears that will throw their hands up due to the lack of information, acknowledged the dull update.

“I know that’s not very distributing, but I’m trying to be protective of him also.”

Following that, Pope commented on freshman Malachi Moreno’s growth and why the team doesn’t necessarily need to rush the star transfer back too soon.

“You want to have your guys and JQ’s an incredibly special talent,” Pope said. “And (with emphasis) Malachi is growing at a beautiful rate, he’s grown in a lot of ways…statistically and performance and read based and understanding on the court, but he’s also growing as a leader in the locker room.”

The truth is, there’s no true timetable for Quaintance’s return and Pope will likely rock with Moreno and Brandon Garrison as his bigs for the time being.

Kentucky faces off against the Texas Longhorns (11-7, 2-3 SEC) on Wednesday, Jan. 21 and fans will see the once proclaimed star sidelined for another SEC matchup. Tip time is set for 7:00 p.m. ET and will air live on SEC Network.

The ‘Cardiac Cats’ provided Big Blue Nation with another heart-pounding win on Saturday, Jan. 17, storming back from a double-digit deficit in Knoxville for an 80-78 victory.

Kentucky (12-6, 3-2 SEC) has now won four straight games in Tennessee’s (12-6, 2-3 SEC) house.

Same Ole Start

Kentucky started with yet another rough first half, which is nothing new this season.

Not a single Wildcat could get to their spots unless they were running in transition, and even then, players continually ran into each other and got into each other’s way.

Careless turnovers, like the slip from Jasper Johnson and the dribbling out of bounds incident from Otega Oweh cost Kentucky valuable possessions that only contributed to the hole that the Cats had to dig themselves out of.

Coming into the game, Kentucky was averaging a nine-point deficit to opponents by the end of the first half, the exact numbers being 31.3/40.2 for the season.

Although a late run would put the Wildcats back within a reasonable deficit, the averages were still right on the money, with the gaudy orange leading 42-31 at the half.

Surging in the Second Half

As the second half progressed, the Wildcats started their surge, which has quickly become somewhat of a brand for the blue and white this year

Within the first ten minutes of the second half, Kentucky cut the Volunteer lead down to only four, with some heroics from Denzel Aberdeen and Collin Chandler, who continued to spark shots from deep and make plays both offensively and defensively,.

The Wildcats outscored Tennessee 49-36 in the final 20 minutes, and did it by scoring with pace and efficiency beyond the arc.

Kentucky finished with 11 3-pointers, six of them coming in the second half, in moments that would swing momentum. However, scoring only matters in a comeback when you stop the other team from scoring as well.

Emotions in the Final Minutes

In the final five minutes and 38 seconds, Tennessee would go without a field goal and only scored via the free throw line. This drought opened the door for the biggest moment of the game.

Colin Chandler, jumping a passing lane, led to a transition bucket from Otega Oweh, which would give UK their first lead of the game and a lead they would not let go.

The dramatics of the comeback gave people high emotions, and just like last year, very loud “Go Big Blue” chants rang down on the court.

It seemed fans weren’t the only ones with high emotions, as benches cleared during an exchange between players from both sides after the buzzer sounded.

Up next for the Wildcats is a home game against the Texas Longhorns (11-7, 2-3 SEC) on Wednesday, Jan. 21 at 7:00 p.m. ET, streaming live on the SEC network.

Only 1.6 seconds remained on the clock. Kentucky, trailing 74-73 to LSU on the road, had one shot at winning the game. Collin Chandler, lobbing a Hail Mary inbound pass from underneath the opponents basket, gave all watching just a sliver of hope.

Leaping up into the sky, freshman Malachi Moreno jumped over his defender, turned around, set his feet and sinked an 18-foot jumper. The Wildcats won the ball game.

On Wednesday, Jan. 14, the Kentucky Wildcats (11-6, 2-2 SEC) took down the LSU Tigers (12-5, 0-4 SEC) in their second conference win of the season after a 53-36 second-half surge.

Although the second half was nothing but the Cats, this matchup wasn’t always so pretty inside of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

The Worst Half of the Season

After Mark Pope decided to switch up the starting lineup, plugging in Kam Williams and Andrija Jelavić, the Wildcats would go on to play one of their worst halves of basketball this season.

In the first 20 minutes, Kentucky shot just 26.7% from the field and 16.7% from deep, with only Otega Oweh and Jelavić tallying six points each. At one point, LSU jumped out to an 18-5 lead near the halfway point of the first half, leading to a 16-point lead at the break.

There’s not much else to say about the elephant in the room. Fans were disappointed, journalists were critical and the Tigers thought they were about to secure their first SEC dub.

Lucky for Big Blue Nation, they thought wrong.

The Second Half of the Ages

Led by Denzel Aberdeen, Kentucky would cut down the LSU lead to just eight points fairly quickly. The Florida transfer would hustle his way to several easy jumpers and boost others, showing a true amount of fire and heart.

Although Kentucky was better offensively in the second 20-minute segment, the moment they would go on a quick run, LSU would answer back. For example, after an official TV timeout at the 11:27 mark, Aberdeen would sink three free throws to cut the lead down to six. LSU’s Rashad King would drain a 15-foot jumper on the next possession.

Chandler would make a 23-foot three off of an Aberdeen assist, which was instantly followed by a Max Mackinnon three. Oweh would answer with a three of his own to cut the lead down to five, and of course, King would make another jumper from the exact same range.

Oweh’s shooting would be the main reason Kentucky would continue to hang around in the game, finishing with 21 points and three 3-pointers, but the game would call for his clutch play just one final time.

Driving into the lane and searching for a game-tying bucket, Robert Miller III would foul Kentucky’s star, sending him to line with just four seconds left in the game.

Oweh would sink the first one with ease but was just short on the second, leading to a quick Tigers rebound and a called foul with less than two seconds left.

In one of the most nerve-racking moments of the season, Pablo Tamba would miss both free throws for LSU. Oweh quickly rebounded the ball and Pope called a timeout.

The rest is history. Moreno would hit the game-winning shot, resulting in one of the coldest moments names in Kentucky history – The Malachi Miracle.

The Upcoming Gauntlet

Up next, the Wildcats will travel to Knoxville, TN to take on the No. 24 Volunteers (12-5, 2-2 SEC) on Saturday, Jan. 17. With a scheduled tip for 12:00 p.m. ET, this rivalry matchup will air live on ESPN.

Hosting two SEC foes in a row with Texas (11-6, 2-2 SEC) and Ole Miss (10-7, 2-2 SEC) on Jan. 21 and Jan. 24, Kentucky will face two ranked team on the road in a row to round out January – No. 10 Vanderbilt and No. 17 Arkansas.

The rest of this month will be a true test to see how much the Wildcats can compete when approaching the latter half of the season.