The Wildcats had one 11 a.m. tip last year, a thrilling SEC home-opening win against the now reigning champion Florida Gators. Now, after another convincing win versus the Ole Miss Rebels, in a game pushed earlier due to historically impending weather, it may be time for the Cats to give up the noon tips.

On Saturday, Jan. 24, Kentucky men’s basketball (14-6, 5-2 SEC) defeated Ole Miss (11-9, 3-4 SEC) by a score of 72-63, tying the Wildcats for second place in the conference.

FIRST HALF

In case you slept in, forgetting the game started an earlier, you frankly didn’t miss out on anything too eventful, as both teams would have a quiet start full of missed opportunities and offenses that wouldn’t quite develop. On Kentucky’s end, two fouls given to Otega Oweh within the first 40 seconds played a huge factor. 

Kansas transfer AJ Storr kept the game in check with aggressive post play, leading to shots from the charity stripe. Kentucky had Jasper Johnson turn on the afterburners toward the backend, with two 3-pointer shots and eight points.

SECOND HALF

The second half included a game of basketball that was much higher scoring and much more in line with how coach Chris Beard and Mark Pope like to run their offenses. Oweh, playing a lot more disciplined in the foul game, quickly brought himself to another double-digit game (a streak he hasn’t broken all season) and his highest scoring performance all season (23 points).

WHAT’S NEXT?

Kentucky will go on another rough roadtrip this week, facing No. 15 Vanderbilt (16-3, 3-3 SEC) and No. 20 Arkansas (14-5, 4-2 SEC). If they can win one of those two games, they’ll have more than enough momentum to return to Rupp to start February with a bang.

If they go two for two, the Cats will be in fantastic shape and will most likely return to the AP Top 25 for the first time since the end of November.

The injury bug has officially struck the Wildcats once again.

After an awkward shot in the second half, Kam Williams would exit the game and was seen limping back to the locker room, a sight that instantly caused worry for Big Blue Nation.

Unfortunately, after the game, Mark Pope would confirm that Williams’ injury is indeed not minor and that he broke his foot.

“He’s just a beautiful kid,” Pope said. “We’re going to get him back healthy as soon as we possibly can but he’ll be out for a while.”

Depending on the type of fracture, and what we’ve seen in the past from certain athletes, anything non-displaced will sideline Williams for 6-8 weeks, but anything more major than that will guarantee his absence for the rest of the season.

The Tulane transfer played in 19 games for the Wildcats, started in seven of those and averaged 6.9 points per game on 44.9% shooting from the field.

A short time after the game, his father Greg Williams would send out an encouraging message for fans, stating that the Wildcat is feeling fine.

“BBN, Kam is disappointed, but in good spirits and he is thankful for the many prayers and well wishes.”

Now, with Williams and Jaland Lowe both out for the foreseeable future and superstar Jayden Quaintance still sidelined with knee swelling, the Wildcats will be limited heading forward. Join KY Insider in wishing all players a speedy recovery.

Kentucky (13-6, 4-2 SEC) extended its conference win streak to four after closing out Texas (11-8, 2-4 SEC) by a score of 85-80 on Wednesday, Jan. 21.

After the Wildcats’ return to Rupp Arena, fans will likely run back the highlights and maybe even show a friend who isn’t into basketball. From back-and-forth-scoring, flashy dunks and crowd pops, this game had it all.

Notably, for the first time since the start of SEC play, the Wildcats did not head into the second half trailing and won this boxing match straight up in front of Big Blue Nation.

Breaking the First Half Faults

Let’s just cut to the chase. Kentucky ended the first half tied with Texas 40-40, however, in the past three games, the Wildcats had been down double digits heading into the break.

This was a real treat for fans who have not yet seen their team actually put together a respectable first half. The standout player for the first 20 minutes was none other than Otega Oweh, who finished the half with 10 points and a steal, altogether saving the “heart attacks” from the fans who bleed blue.

But, numbers fade, and what everyone will remembers is the highlights – plays like the “baptism” Oweh created, nearly posterizing Texas center Matas Vokietaitis.

Driving baseline with his head down, Oweh’s dunk was so powerful that it rattled the rim for what felt like an eternity, resulting in loud cheers from every inch of Lexington’s heart.

Each team took turns going on three-minute scoring runs while the other would fall into a scoring drought, resulting in a back-and-forth up-hill climb for both squads.

Closing the Game

At the midway point of the Tennessee game, the Wildcats were in the middle of their comeback win, but in the midway point of this one, they were thankfully battling to keep the lead.

Maybe it was being back in Rupp Arena or maybe it was because they just didn’t like being called “Cardiac Cats” all the time, but for this one, Kentucky was in the driver’s seat for a majority of the time.

Fans had plenty of reason to get loud, between consistent scoring and the win. The defense however, earning the loudest cheers, was a staple in the victory.

Kentucky finished the win with eight steals, seven blocks and 36 total rebounds as a team. Both squads used most of the shot clock in the second half, focused on finding good shots in the half-court offense, but the Wildcats continued to fight through the high-powered Longhorns.

One of the players who this benefited the most was Colin Chandler, who joined Oweh as the second largest leading scorer. Chandler finished the night with 18 points and seven rebounds – a new career high in both categories.

Texas only led in the game for just over seven minutes, dealing with Malachi Moreno swatting its shots away – he had five – and the backcourt just flat out dropping buckets.

Up Next

Defensive anchors and control of the final moments is exactly what Kentucky needs with its upcoming schedule.

Rounding out the month of January, Kentucky faces some of the most high-powered offenses in the SEC, starting first with Ole Miss on Saturday, Jan. 24 and with road games against No. 15 Vanderbilt on Jan. 27 and No. 20 Arkansas on Jan. 31.

The Wildcats will face the Rebels (11-8, 3-3 SEC) this coming Saturday at 12:00 p.m. ET, airing live on ESPN.