FINAL: Despite Ugonna Onyenso's career night, Kentucky falls to Florida in overtime 94-91

Despite Ugonna Onyenso playing the best game of his college career, his efforts weren’t rewarded with a victory.

On Wednesday night at Rupp Arena, No. 10 Kentucky (15-5; 5-3 SEC) came up short in overtime against the Florida Gators (15-6; 5-3 SEC), falling by a final score of 94-91. The Wildcats had a chance to ice the win in the closing seconds of regulation, but freshman Rob Dillingham went 1-for-2 at the free throw line, allowing Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. to tie the score with a three-pointer that sent the game into overtime.

In the extra period, Florida got out to an early lead and never let up, stealing a win that the Wildcats had in the bag until the final moments of regulation.

Onyenso was still incredible, finishing the night with 13 points, 16 rebounds, and eight blocks in 33 minutes of action. Dillingham chipped in 20 points while Reed Sheppard added 24 more. Antonio Reeves was right behind with 19 points of his own. But it wasn’t enough for Kentucky to come away with the win. No other Wildcat scored more than seven points.

Even with two rotational pieces out (DJ Wagner and Justin Edwards were sidelined due to injury) and a new starting lineup on the floor, Kentucky’s offense looked like the version fans have been used to all season in the early going. It felt like both teams made it a point to fire off as many three-pointers as possible in the opening minutes. Unfortunately, the Wildcats’ defensive issues popped up once again as Florida kept pace in the scoring column.

Kentucky delivered the first real punch of the night near the end of the first half after an Aaron Bradshaw dunk made it a 10-point advantage in favor of the ‘Cats with about two minutes until the break. But UK couldn’t step all the way down on the gas pedal, allowing Florida to cut the deficit to five at the intermission, 41-36.

Sheppard, who started just his second game of the season, led the way in the first half with 11 points while Reeves and Dillingham chipped in eight a piece. Kentucky shot over 45 percent from the field and 6-11 from deep but could never take the Gators out of it completely on the other end of the floor.

Kentucky’s defensive struggles continued right out of the halftime gate, as Florida quickly regained the lead just 90 seconds in. It was back and forth from there. Neither team could comfortably jump out in front. At the under-eight-minute media timeout, UK was clinging to a 72-71 lead.

Almost immediately after, Onyenso would hit a pair of free throws to record his first career double-double. It was also his first time breaking double-figures in the scoring column. A minute later, he hit one more freebie to put Kentucky ahead by two. Florida would respond though, knotting the score at 77-77 as we went into the final media timeout.

As we dipped under 90 seconds left in regulation, Kentucky was just barely holding onto an 81-79 lead. Following a Florida airball, Onyenso was able to score a putback bucket off a Dillingham miss to make it a four-point lead for the ‘Cats. Florida then called a timeout with 28 seconds left.

The Gators would score out of the huddle and then fouled Dillingham with under 15 seconds left. He would go 1-for-2 at the line, giving Florida life. Clayton Jr. quickly came down and hit a massive triple to tie the game at 84. Kentucky failed to get off a shot at the buzzer. Overtime.

Florida opened up the extra period with a jumper, which Dillingham followed up with a layup on the other end. A minute later, Tre Mitchell also went 1-for-2 at the line — Clayton then responded with another hug three-pointer to put Florida in front by two. Kentucky called a timeout with 1:13 left in overtime, but couldn’t convert from there.

Kentucky had every opportunity to win this ball game, but poor execution down the stretch cost the ‘Cats what would have been a quality win. This one stings.

Up next: Kentucky will return to Rupp Arena for a showdown against No. 5 Tennessee on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. EST on ESPN.