Prior to playing Ole Miss on Tuesday, the Wildcats were usually the team that had to outscore opponents in high-scoring games. They had conceded 85 points or more in all but two of their ten conference games, but against the Rebels, they rallied to escape losing four straight at home.
With Kentucky’s talented backcourt, Ole Miss already had its hands full, but Ugonna Onyenso proved to be a real challenge underneath the hoop as well. Although he was able to break away for a few easy points, he was consistently blocking attempts on defence and ended the game with ten points. Although the final stat sheet showed an overall pretty balanced contest, OleMiss was limited in what they could’ve done due to turnovers as well. A third of Ole Miss’ points were essentially earned by their defensive efforts.
“It was just a combination of our shots being blocked what seemed like a hundred times from where I was sitting and a high turnover game (12).” simply didn’t provide us with adequate offensive weapons, “remarked Beard. “We didn’t get the best shots tonight. We don’t have as many shots blocked when we commit fewer turnovers. On a poor shooting night, we manage to get enough shots to stay in the game a little longer. Tonight, we didn’t follow our plan of action. We recognised the skill at the rim. We were aware of the crumbling defence. A two-footed game would have been much favoured by us. We didn’t have enough of the good inside-out assets that we did have. It had a significant role in the match.”
“We want to try to play with some intelligence and basketball IQ, but we just didn’t have it consistently tonight. We obviously never want to stop going to the rim. We intended for this to be an inside-out, two-foot game, but we were unable to complete it.”
Due to errors, Ole Miss got out to a strong start and led for about 11 minutes of the first half. However, a devastating 29-10 run by Kentucky put the Rebels in a hole that persisted until the locker room. The Rebels tried their hardest to close the gap to six points, but Kentucky’s bench took over and made a difference in the closing minutes, while the team quickly found it difficult to establish a consistent rhythm.
“That is profundity. Depth and talent,” Beard remarked. “Coach (Calipari) does a good job pushing the buttons and trying to find the combinations.”
Ole Miss made 38% of its shots from the floor (24/64) and 23% from three points (5/22). Despite having seven more offensive boards than the opposition, the Rebels were just -3 on the glass (34–37). The score was tied at 32 points in the paint for both teams. With 16 points apiece, Jaemyn Brakefield and Matthew Murrell led the Rebels; the latter also grabbed six rebounds. Along with a team-high six assists, Allen Flanigan contributed 10 points. Leading the way with 15 points from Antonio Reeves, the Wildcats shot 52.4 percent (28/54) from the field and had four players score in double figures.
