Big Blue Preview: Kentucky vs. Missouri (SEC Tournament)
After topping LSU 87-82 on Wednesday, Kentucky advanced to the second round of the 2026 Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament, where the Cats will face Missouri on Thursday (12:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network).
Otega Oweh led the Cats with 23 points in Wednesday’s win, while Brandon Garrison had 17 points for UK. Denzel Aberdeen added 16 points for Kentucky.
Missouri, the tournament’s eighth seed, did not play on Wednesday. The Tigers are 20-11 on the season and are led by senior forward Mark Mitchell, who averages 17.9 points per game.
Kentucky and Missouri met one time during the regular season, with the Tigers claiming a 73-68 win at Rupp Arena on January 7. Oweh led UK with 20 points in that game, but no other Wildcat scored in double figures. Mitchell paced Missouri with 21 points, while Jayden Stone had 20.
UK led the Jan. 7 meeting 66-58 with 4:37 remaining. That’s when Missouri mounted its late-game 15-2 run to seal the victory. The Tigers had 40 points in the paint in that game, compared to 28 for the Cats.
Following Wednesday’s win over LSU, Kentucky head coach Mark Pope talked about what Missouri does well.
“They’re really good. They’ve been playing great basketball,” Pope said. “They have tremendous size on their front line. They’re so physical and so big and so skilled actually, can hurt you in a lot of different ways.”
Pope remembers the January game against Missouri and what they did to pull out the win.
“They made shots against us when we played them at home,” Pope said. “Made some plays late that really hurt us. They’re a good team. Really well-coached. Coach (Dennis Gates) does a great job. It will be a great challenge, just like every game in this tournament is going to be a challenge.”
That challenge is the next step in what Pope and the Cats hope will be a run in this week’s SEC Tournament.
Know Your Opponent: Missouri
Kentucky faces Missouri in round two of the SEC Tournament.
• Kentucky leads the all-time series, 16-4, the two sides have never met in the SEC Tournament
• Missouri topped UK, 73-68, back on Jan. 7 in the regular-season matchup between the schools. The Wildcats led by eight with under five minutes to play but were unable to hold on
• Otega Oweh led Kentucky with 20 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals in the first meetings, team-highs in all categories
• Mark Mitchell (21 points) and Jayden Stone (20 points) led the Tigers in scoring that night
• The Tigers finished the regular season with a 20-11 overall record and a 10-8 mark in league action
• Mitchell, a second team All-SEC selection, leads Mizzou in scoring at 17.9 points per game and in rebounding with 5.2 boards per outing
Oweh and Moreno Earn All-SEC Honors
Kentucky men’s basketball’s Otega Oweh and Malachi Moreno took home All-Southeastern Conference honors, with Oweh
named to the league’s second team and Moreno an all-freshman selection.
For Oweh, this marks his second consecutive bid to the All-SEC Second Team, while Moreno is the first All-Freshman Team honoree at Kentucky under head coach Mark Pope.
Oweh had a monster regular season for the Wildcats, averaging career bests of 18.2 points, 2.7 assists and 1.8 steals to go along with 4.5 rebounds entering the SEC Tournament. He has continued to deliver consistent scoring production, scoring in double figures in 30 of 31 regular season games, including 16 games with 20 or more points.
Moreno has been an immediate contributor for Kentucky. Entering the SEC Tournament, Moreno started 25 of 31 games, leading the team in rebounding and blocked shots. The freshman center is averaging 8.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.6 blocks per game, while shooting a team-best 58.7 percent from the field and posting three double-doubles. He ranks seventh among freshmen in the conference in scoring, second in rebounds and first in blocks. The Cats are 10-1 on the season when Moreno scores in double-figures.
