Content by – Graham Shepherd for
SPORTS VIEW AMERICA … Please check us out on X , INSTAGRAM, & FACEBOOK … Photo Galleries at Facebook.com/SportsViewAmerica & SVA PHOTOS (1-7-26)
Lexington, KY – Rupp Arena – Photo by Mont Dawson
The ‘Cats fell to the Missouri Tigers by a score of 73-68 on Wednesday night at Rupp Arena. It was the Tigers first ever win in Lexington, previously 0-9 in Lexington and 0-7 at Rupp Arena. The Tigers were led by Mitchell with 21-points and sharp shooting Stone with 20-points. The duo were consistently the Tigers go-to scorers down the stretch and continuously hit big shots to answer the ‘Cats runs. Oweh was the ‘Cats leading scorer in the game with 20-points. No other Kentucky player scored in double figures in the game. Kentucky continues their downward trend for the season and have begun SEC play with an 0-2 record. Coach Pope continues to search for answers with this group of poorly constructed ‘Cats. There was even a point in the first half that led to the most heated Coach Pope has been at Kentucky, receiving his first technical foul and nearly getting tossed from the game due to poor officiating. That combined with a three-quarters court prayer from Oweh that splashed in the net ignited the crowd and team. However, it still was not enough and there were too many critical mistakes with ball security and execution down the stretch to string together enough consecutive baskets to pull away. At the moment, there is little hope surrounding this team and the rest of the season, with their tournament hopes now in question for the rest of the year. Still, the season continues with a home matchup against Mississippi State this Saturday. Rarely are their “must win” games in January, but this Saturday fits the book.
Pre-Game Overview:
The starting lineup for the ‘Cats featured Jaland Lowe, Denzel Aberdeen, Otega Oweh, Mouhamed Dioubate, Jayden Quaintance
The spread for Wednesday nights game was -12.5 (Kentucky) and the Over/Under was set at 150.5.
Game Recap:
First Half
Missouri won the opening tipoff but missed a pull-up three on their first offensive possession. The ‘Cats scored the first points of the game off a Aberdeen mid-range jumper. Mitchell responded with a score for the Tigers to tie the game. Aberdeen missed a mid-range jumper on the second ‘Cats possession. Oweh forced a Missouri turnover but Lowe missed a wide-open three. Robinson scored in transition for Missouri. Oweh was fouled on a drive to the rim. He hit both free-throws for the ‘Cats. Dioubate was fouled on a drive to the rim and hit both free-throws. The game was tied at 6 at the first media timeout with 15:19-minutes to play in the first half. Moreno was the first ‘Cat off the bench to replace Quaintance. Kentucky started the game just 20% from the field but connecting on all four free-throw attempts. The ‘Cats turned it over on a shot-clock violation after the timeout. Moreno scored on a dunk in the paint to tie the game after Missouri hit a mid-range jumper late in the shot-clock. Moreno found Garrison on a back door baseline slam. The ‘Cats offense stalled with a questionable lineup of Aberdeen, Chandler, Williams, Garrison, and Moreno. The ‘Cats trailed 12-10 at the under 12-minute media timeout. Quaintance rejected a shot attempt out of bounds. Barrett backed down Lowe and scored. Quaintance dribbled to the rim and was fouled on a shot attempt. Missouri scored once again on their offensive end, taking a 16-10 lead. Oweh shifted his way to an easy transition layup. Missouri nailed a corner three on their next possession. Dioubate was fouled on a shot attempt as the ‘Cats trailed 19-12 with 7:53-minutes to play in the half. The ‘Cats continued to run abysmal offensive sets in the first half, lacking ball movement and spacing throughout their possessions. Dioubate hit both free-throws at the line. Oweh nailed a three for Kentucky, their first of the game. Oweh stole the ball and scored in transition to tie the game at 19. Missouri responded with a corner three from Mitchell. Moreno turned in the paint and scored over a defender. Williams scored at the rim to tie the game at 23 with 5-minutes to play in the half. Stone nailed a three for Missouri once again to answer the ‘Cats. Dioubate scored on a hook shot in the paint. The ‘Cats trailed 28-25 with 3:24-minutes to play in the half. Oweh hit 1 of 2 free-throws at the line. The ‘Cats defense forced a shot-clock violation against the Tigers on their next possession. Quaintance collected an offensive board and returned to the free-throw line. He hit 1 of 2 at the line. Quaintance was dragged to the floor with no foul call much to the dislike of Coach Pope. A touch foul was returned in favor for the Tigers and Pope received his first Technical foul of the season. The ‘Cats continued to be neglected with fouls through contact as Pope continued to pummel the officials throughout dead time during the game. Lowe hit two free-throws to bring the score to 33-29 Tigers. Oweh stole a errant pass and launched a three-quarters court shot that swished on the opposite end for the ‘Cats. That buzzer heave brought the ‘Cats within 1-point at 33-32 Missouri at the half.
It was a struggle of a half for Kentucky for the majority of the first half. Kentucky finished the half shooting 45% in the half form the field and 40% (2 of 5) from beyond the arc. Missouri shot an efficient 50% from the field and 30% (3 of 10) from three-point range. Oweh led the way with 13 first half points and collected 3 steals on the defensive end. The ‘Cats had 6 assists on 10 first half field goals and committed 6 turnovers in the half. The ‘Cats will look to carry the end of half spark from Pope and the prayer from Oweh into the second half.
Halftime: Kentucky 32 – Missouri 33
Second Half
The ‘Cats began the second half with the possession and turned it over on a bad pass. The ‘Cats got the ball back on an offensive foul on Missouri. Lowe drove and hit a floater in the paint. A second offensive foul call on Missouri on an illegal screen gave the ball back to the ‘Cats. Quaintance soared for a rebound and pushed it ahead to Aberdeen for a score. Oweh took it coast-to-coast for a score through contact. Kentucky led 38-33 with 17:51-minutes to play in the game. The ‘Cats began the second half with a 6-0 run. The ‘Cats got the ball once again on an offensive foul call off the ball called on Missouri. Quaintance turned it over for the ‘Cats. Barrett scored over Oweh. Aberdeen nailed a corner three. Mitchell scored over Moreno on the other end for the Tigers. Kentucky led 41-37 at the under 16-minute media timeout. Missouri nailed a three to make the score 41-40 Kentucky. Mitchell slammed in the lead for the Tigers after an empty ‘Cats possession. Lowe connected on a corner three for Kentucky. Moreno locked down Mitchell, Oweh saved the loose ball and Aberdeen found Williams for a rhythm three to give Kentucky a 47-42 lead. Williams stole the ball for the ‘Cats and was fouled. Kentucky led 47-42 with 11:27-minutes to play in the game. Phillips scored over Quaintance out of the timeout. Dioubate scored over multiple defenders on the other end. Robinson answered for the Tigers. Mitchell scored and connected with the and-one free-throw to tie the game at 49. Mitchell again beat Quaintance in the paint. Oweh drove and was rewarded with a foul call to go to the line. Oweh hit 1 of 2 at the line. Moreno was fouled for one and the bonus at the line. He hit 1 of 2 at the line to tie the game at 51. Lowe was fouled on a drive and went to the line. He hit both free-throws to give Kentucky a 53-51 lead. Garrison shut down the Tigers on defense then found Moreno for a score in the paint after dribbling it all the way down the court. Lowe found Williams in the corner for a open three as Rupp popped in excitement. Kentucky led 58-53 with 6:41-minutes to play in the game. Mitchell went to the line and hit both free-throws. Moreno was fouled on a shot attempt on the next ‘Cats trip down the floor. Moreno hit both free-throws. Stone nailed a three off a pump fake for the Tigers. Oweh was fouled on a drive and returned to the free-throw line. Oweh hit 1 of 2 at the line. Moreno rejected Mitchell in the post and Garrison slammed home an Oweh pass. Oweh then gathered an athletic defensive rebound and Garrison swung a pass to Oweh in the corner for an open three to push the ‘Cats lead to 66-58 with 4:34-minutes to play. The Tigers scored over Williams out of the timeout. Lowe was blocked and Stone scored quickly in transition for Missouri. Moreno threw a pass through Oweh’s hands to give the ball back to the Tigers with the ‘Cats leading 66-62 with 3:44-minutes to play. Stone nailed another three for the Tigers. Williams missed a wide-open three but the ‘Cats collected a rebound off Tigers missed shot. Garrison scored over a defender to give Kentucky a 68-65 lead. Moreno again stood firm on defense to give the ball back to the ‘Cats. Lowe missed a step-back three. Phillips scored on an alley-oop and the ‘Cats called timeout with 1-minute to play. Moreno turned the ball over again in a critical possession for Kentucky. Mitchell scored over Garrison for the Missouri lead. Garrison then threw the ball away for Kentucky with 28-seconds to play and trailing by 1-point. Chandler stole the full-court pass but Oweh missed a driving layup at the rim. Kentucky was forced to foul with 14-seconds to play. Robinson missed the front end of the one-and-one but the Tigers tapped it out for an offensive board. Stone hit both free-throws. Missouri led 71-68 with 9.8-seconds to play as Kentucky took a timeout to draw up a three-point shot. Lowe dribbled around threw up a three that was not close. Stone hit both free-throws and the ‘Cats went on to lose the game by a score of 73-68. Despair for the ‘Cats.
Final: Kentucky 68 – Missouri 73
Game Stats:
Missouri FG %: 52% (35% 3PT – 6 of 17) (72% FT – 13 of 18)
Kentucky FG %: 43% (39% 3PT – 7 of 18) (71% FT – 17 of 24)
Rebounds: 31 – 29 Kentucky
Assist/Turnover Ratio: 16:13
Turnovers: UK (13), Missouri (12)
Bench Points: 23 – 12 Kentucky
Points off Turnovers: 17 – 11 Missouri
Fast Break Points: 24 – 7 Kentucky
Paint Points: 40 – 28 Missouri
Player Stats:
Otega Oweh – [(20 points) (5 rebounds) (4 assists) (4 steals)]
Jaland Lowe – [(9 points) (4 rebounds) (2 assists)]
Malachi Moreno – [(9 points) (4 rebounds) (1 assist) (3 blocks)] led team in +/- with +6 in 22-minutes
Mouhamed Dioubate – [(8 points) (2 rebounds) (2 assists)]
Kam Williams – [(8 points) (1 rebound) (1 steal)]
Denzel Aberdeen – [(7 points) (3 rebounds) (4 assists)]
Brandon Garrison – [(6 points) (4 rebounds) (2 assists)]
Jayden Quaintance – [(1 point) (4 rebounds) (1 assist) (1 steal) (1 block)]
Collin Chandler – [(1 steal)]
Trent Noah – [DNP Coaches Decision]
Andrija Jelavic – [DNP Coaches Decision]
Jasper Johnson – [DNP Coaches Decision]
Next Game:
The Kentucky Wildcats (9-6, 0-2 SEC) will return to Rupp Arena on Saturday night to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs (10-5, 2-0 SEC) on Saturday, January 10. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. EST. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.
