Big Blue Preview: Kentucky at Missouri
No. 19 Kentucky plays the final game of its regular season on Saturday, visiting 15th-ranked Missouri in Columbia. UK head coach Mark Pope has enjoyed the season, but he admits that it has gone by really fast.
“It’s so fast. It’s too fast, actually,” Pope said. “We get to play our last game of the regular season on Saturday. It’s been a epic, dramatic, incredible, wonderful, painful journey, all the things that you want and we can’t wait to get to the postseason.”
Kentucky has clinched at least the eighth seed in next week’s Southeastern Conference Tournament. The Cats could finish as high as fifth, depending on what else happens on the final day of the regular season. Pope admits that he and his staff have examined the possible scenarios.
“Now, we’re doing it a lot because it’s fun,” Pope said. “It’s March. This is the best. We love every bit of it.”
Pope saw his Cats make 12 of 32 shots from beyond the arc in Tuesday’s 95-64 win over LSU. The UK head man was happy to see his team shoot at least 30 threes in the win.
“For probably the last six to eight weeks, we’ve just been trying to stay above water, managing all of the changes,” Pope said. “For the first two or three months, we were just focused on getting better and then we went through a period in the season where we just had so much change to our roster and rotation, we were just like, how do we survive. This will be our third straight game where we have the same unit out on the floor. There’s some real comfort that comes with that. We’ve got to have pace in the game because that’s when we play our best. So I was really pleased with that number.”
The Cats will now face a Missouri team that has bounced back from going 0-18 in the league last year to a 10-7 mark in the SEC this year. Pope admits that he admires what Missouri head coach Dennis Gates has done this season.
“I’m really happy for him because I’m a huge fan of his,” Pope said. “I think he’s one of the really special coaches in college basketball.”
Pope knows that the Tigers will be a formidable opponent for the Cats.
“They have incredibly capable shooters who are dangerous,” Pope said. “They have the ability to focus in on some places they want to attack and come back to them over and over again. We run a lot of the same actions offensively, we value spacing the same way offensively.”
Pope hopes that his team can carry the momentum from Tuesday’s win into Saturday’s game, then into the postseason.
“I think this league is really spectacular. I think you want to get every single win you can,” Pope said. “We would love to win, we would like to go into the SEC Tournament on a bit of a run.”
The regular season comes to an end on Saturday, and while it has flown by, Pope and the Cats are hoping that there’s plenty of season left.
Kentucky Blasts LSU on Senior Night
Kentucky honored six seniors on Tuesday night prior to the home finale against LSU. But once the game started, it was a trio of underclassmen who stole the show.
Junior Otega Oweh had 24 points, making nine of 11 shots from the floor, while adding eight rebounds and three assists as No. 19 Kentucky smashed LSU 95-64 at Rupp Arena.
Kentucky (20-10, 9-8 Southeastern Conference) got a season-high-tying 15 points from sophomore Brandon Garrison and a career-high 11 points from freshman Collin Chandler.
Yes, the UK seniors produced as well. Ansley Almonor scored a season-high 15 points. Amari Williams had nine points and six rebounds, while Andrew Carr had eight points and six rebounds. Lamont Butler added five points and five assists and Koby Brea had six points.
Some additional notes from the game:
• Kentucky is now 53-6 all-time in games in which its seniors are honored
• The 31-point margin of victory was the largest for UK on senior day since 2003 vs. Vanderbilt
• Kentucky finished 15-3 at home, most home wins in the last three seasons
• Kentucky shot 50.7 percent from the field (36 of 71). UK is 13-1 this season when shooting at least 50 percent.
• Kentucky made 12 3-pointers. The Wildcats are 8-0 this season when making at least 12 triples
• It was UK’s 17th game this season making at least 10 3-pointers, the most in program history
• Kentucky went 11 of 11 at the free throw line
• It ties for the ninth-most free throws made in a perfect performance in school history and the second time in the last five games that the Wildcats have been perfect – also 13 of 13 vs. Vanderbilt
• This is the third time in program history that UK has shot perfect from the line (minimum 10 attempts) twice in a season (2023-24, 1988-89)
• Kentucky won the rebounding, 37-30. The Wildcats are 13-4 this season when outrebounding the opponent
• Kentucky had 22 assists, most since dishing 25 in the win vs. Florida
• With 22 assists and eight turnovers, the margin of +14 ties for the fourth-best margin of the season
• Kentucky had 13 steals, tying for the second-most this season
SEC Seeding for League Tournament
With just one regular-season game remaining, there’s still a lot to be determined for seeding in the SEC Tournament. Kentucky is guaranteed to be at least the No. 8 seed and can finish as high as No. 5.
In order to get to the fifth spot, Kentucky must defeat Missouri, LSU must defeat Texas A&M and Florida must beat Ole Miss.
A variety of other variables could land Kentucky in the No. 6 or 7 spot as well.
Balanced Attack
The Wildcats are 20-10 in large part thanks to their veteran experience. But it has been the balance of attack, both offensively and defensively that has aided UK’s season.
• Kentucky has had seven different leading scorers through 30 games (Oweh – 13, Brea – 7, Carr – 4, Robinson – 4, Butler – 2, Almonor – 1, Williams – 1)
• Six players are averaging double-figure points through 30 games. No UK team has ever finished the season with six players averaging double-figure points
