Williams' Triple Double Not Enough as Kentucky Falls at Ole Miss
Amari Williams recorded the fourth triple-double in Kentucky basketball history, but the 14th-ranked Cats lost at No. 25 Ole Miss 98-84 on Tuesday night in Oxford.
Williams had 12 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists in the game, joining Chris Mills (Dec. 27, 1988), De’Aaron Fox (Nov. 28, 2016) and Isaiah Briscoe (Dec. 29, 2016) in the exclusive club.
Kentucky (15-7, 4-5 Southeastern Conference) got a career-high 24 points from Otega Oweh and 18 points from Jaxson Robinson. Koby Brea and Andrew Carr each had 10 points for the Cats
Ole Miss (17-6, 6-4) scored the first five points of the game before a Williams got the Cats on the board. After the Rebels scored, Williams connected again to make it 7-4. The Rebels scored the next five to extend the lead to 12-4.
A Travis Perry three cut the deficit to 12-7, but the Rebels answered by scoring the next five to lead 17-7. An Oweh three got the Cats within seven, and a Brandon Garrison layup on a pass from Perry made it 17-12. The Rebels extended the lead to eight before an Oweh layup cut the deficit to 20-14.
The Rebels would go on an 13-4 run to extend the lead to 33-18. A Robinson three got the Cats within 12 at 33-21.
Kentucky would cut the deficit to 39-28 on a Brea three, but Ole Miss closed the half on a 15-3 run and the Rebels led 54-31 at the half.
Both teams started 6 of 7 from the floor in the second half and Ole Miss was able to extend the lead to 68-43. Later in the half, Ole Miss led 71-45 before the Cats went on a run. A three from Oweh and a Garrison free throw made it 71-49. After an Ole Miss free throw, UK got a three from Robinson and a dunk from Garrison to cut the deficit to 72-54.
Robinson hit another three to get the Cats even closer before Ole Miss went on a 6-2 run to lead 78-59. UK then got a four-point play from Robinson and a Williams bucket in the lane and the Ole Miss lead was 78-65 with 8:05 to play. Oweh hit two free throws to get the Cats within 11 points, 78-67 before the Rebels got a three and two free throws to extend the lead to 83-67.
Kentucky would not go away. The Cats went on a 6-2 run, capped by a Brea three, to make it 85-73. That Cats would keep chipping away, getting within 11 points at 92-81 with 1:20 to play. UK would get no closer.
The Cats return to action on Saturday, hosting South Carolina at Rupp Arena. Tipoff is set for noon ET and the game will be on either ESPN or ESPN2.
