For 36 minutes Saturday night, Kentucky was better than unranked Texas in Austin. Unfortunately, the Wildcats (17-8, 6-6 SEC) let one slip away in the closing minutes and came up short, 82-78.

The Longhorns duo of Tre Johnson and Tramon Mark combined for combined for 58 points, including key baskets down the stretch that propelled Texas to victory.

Kentucky went into the game with modest expectations with two key players, Jaxson Robinson and Lamont Butler, being unavailable due to injury.

The lack of a ballhandler was a big part of Kentucky’s undoing. The Cats made several costly mistakes in crunch time that were too much to overcome. The team ended up with 10 assists and 15 turnovers.

Otega Oweh led Kentucky with 20 points. Amari Williams added 18 points and 12 rebounds. Ansley Almonor was the other Cat in double figures with 11.

The Wildcats will try to get back on track at home Wednesday night against Vanderbilt.