No. 19 Kentucky Wins at No. 15 Missouri in SEC Regular Season Finale
Otega Oweh scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half as No. 19 Kentucky topped 15th-ranked Missouri 91-83 on Saturday at Mizzou Arena.
Kentucky (21-10, 10-8 Southeastern Conference) got 17 points from Koby Brea, while Andrew Carr had 16 points and 12 rebounds, his third double-double of the season. Amari Williams had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Cats.
UK made 11 of 20 (55 percent) from three-point range and the Cats hit 26 of 33 (78.8 percent) from the free throw line.
Missouri scored the first two points of the game before a Carr three got the Cats on the board. The Tigers scored the next six points before a Carr free throw made it 8-4. Missouri would hit a three to lead 11-4.
Trent Noah hit a three of his own to get the Cats within four, and Brea hit a corner three to make it 11-10. A Travis Perry three gave Kentucky its first lead of the game and an Oweh dunk capped an 11-0 run that gave the Cats a 15-11 lead.
Missouri scored to get within two, but Brea hit a deep three to extend the UK lead to 18-13. After a Missouri bucket, Carr scored underneath to make it 20-15. The Tigers hit a three but Williams scored on a dunk to give UK a 22-18 advantage. Missouri hit two free throws to get within two but Williams answered with two of his own to give UK a 24-20 lead. And when Williams hit two more, the Cats led 26-20.
A Carr basket in the lane extended the lead to 28-20. After a Missouri free throw, Williams scored at the rim and Kentucky led 30-21. After Missouri scored, Brea hit his third three of the half and UK led 33-23. Missouri scored again, but so did Brea and the Cats led 35-25. After Missouri scored four in a row, Collin Chandler hit a three and UK led 38-29 at the half.
Missouri scored the first point of the second half, but UK got a three and a layup from Oweh to lead 43-30. After the Tigers scored, Carr hit another three to give the Cats a 46-32 lead. Missouri scored five of the next six points to get within 10, 47-37.
Brea and Lamont Butler scored to stretch the led to 51-37. Two Carr free throws made it 53-37 before Missouri hit a three. An Oweh bucket extended the lead to 55-40 but the Tigers scored the next four to get within 11. Williams made two free throws and the Cats led 57-44.
Chandler scored at the basket to give UK a 59-44 lead. After Missouri answered, Chandler hit a three and the Cats led 62-46 with 11:41 to play. The Tigers scored the next five before Butler scored in the lane, then Oweh stole the ball and made a layup to stretch the UK lead to 66-51.
Missouri scored the next 10 points to cut the UK lead to 66-61. A Williams free throw gave UK a six-point lead and an Oweh three made it 70-61 with 5:22 remaining. After a Missouri layup, Butler scored on a layup of his own to give the Cats a 72-63 advantage.
Missouri scored four in a row before a Carr free throw gave the Cats a 73-67 lead. A Carr follow dunk gave UK a 75-67 lead. A Williams free throw made it 76-67 with 2:47 to play. Oweh added a pair of free throws and the Cats led 78-67 with 2:23 left. But Missouri scored the next five to get within six, 78-72, with 1:48 to play.
Butler made two free throws and Brea scored on fast-break dunk to stretch the lead back to 10 points, 82-72. An Oweh free throw made it 83-72 but Missouri scored quickly to get within nine. Two Oweh free throws with 51 seconds remaining gave UK an 85-74 advantage, but Missouri hit a quick three to cut the deficit to 85-77.
Brea hit two free throws with 39 seconds left to give the Cats a 10-point lead, but Missouri hit another three to cut the deficit to 87-80 with 31 seconds to play. Two more Oweh free throws made it 89-80, but the Tigers scored quickly to cut it to 89-82 with 25 seconds to play. Williams made two of his own with 21 seconds left and Missouri added one free throw to establish the final margin.
Kentucky returns to action in the SEC Tournament on Thursday. UK’s opponent, and final seeding, will be determined later on Saturday.
