Kentucky Battles Past Missouri in SEC Tournament
Otega Oweh had 21 points as Kentucky held off Missouri 78-72 on Thursday in the second round of the 2026 Southeastern Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament.
Denzel Aberdeen made 7 of 8 from the free throw line on his way to 16 points, while Collin Chandler added 15 for the Cats.
Kentucky (21-12) made 18 of 23 (78.3 percent) from the free throw line in the game, while Missouri made 15 of 23 (65.2 percent). The Cats got 17 points off 15 Tigers’ turnovers, while MU got 13 points off UK’s nine miscues.
Missouri scored the first three points of the game but Aberdeen tied the game. UK then took the lead on a Chandler fast-break dunk. The Tigers would tie the game at 5-5 before Malachi Moreno hit two free throws to give Kentucky the lead back. Missouri would tie the game again, this time at 7-7.
Moreno scored on an acrobatic layup, the first two points in a 7-0 run that gave the Cats a 14-7 advantage. However, the Tigers scored five in a row to get within two before Mo Dioubate scored underneath to give UK a 16-12 lead. The Tigers scored the next four to tie the game.
Dioubate made two free throws, then Oweh scored at the rim to give UK a 20-16 advantage. Missouri scored four straight to tie the game before Andrija Jelavic dunked to give the Cats a 22-20 lead. A Moreno basket, an Aberdeen layup and a Jelavic layup closed out an 8-0 run that gave Kentucky an eight-point lead. Missouri scored to get within six.
A Kam Williams three and an Oweh putback extended the lead to 33-22 for the Cats. After Missouri scored, Jelavic did the same and UK led 35-24. After two Missouri free throws, Oweh scored and Jasper Johnson made a free throw to stretch the lead to 38-26. The Tigers hit a three to close the first half, but UK took a 38-29 lead into the half.
Kentucky started the second-half scoring with a Chandler three. After a Missouri basket, UK got layups from Aberdeen and Oweh to lead 45-31. After the Tigers scored, Chandler made a layup to stretch the lead to 14 points. Missouri scored two straight baskets to cut the UK lead to 47-37.
Oweh hit a three, then Chandler made three free throws and Kentucky led 53-37. However, Missouri scored the next seven to get within nine. Oweh answered with a three but the Tigers answered with a three of their own to cut the UK lead to 56-47. Dioubate scored to extend the lead to 11, but Missouri scored six in a row to cut the UK lead to 58-53.
Dioubate and Moreno each made a free throw, but Missouri scored four in a row to get within three, 60-57. A Chandler three extended the lead to six before a Missouri free throw got the Tigers within five. Oweh scored to extend the lead to 65-58 but the Tigers scored to get within five.
Two Aberdeen free throws made it 67-60, but the Tigers made consecutive threes to get within one. An Oweh basket in the lane gave UK a three-point lead but Missouri scored four in a row to lead 70-69 with 2:34 remaining.
UK got two free throws from Aberdeen and an Oweh layup to lead 73-70 with 1:13 to play. After the Cats got a defensive stop, Aberdeen drove to the basket and scored to extend the lead to 75-70 with 22 seconds remaining.
Kentucky returns to action on Friday, where the Cats will face top-seeded Florida in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. and the game can be seen on ESPN.
