Antonio Reeves comes to the rescue in game UK had to win

He’s not Superman but guard Antonio Reeves certainly had a heroic performance for Kentucky.

If not for Reeves, Kentucky likely would have lost at Mississippi Tuesday night and probably seen its chance to make the NCAA Tournament go bye-bye. Instead, Reeves went 8-for-12 from the field, including 6-for-7 from 3-point range, and had 27 points in 31 minutes. He was also 5-for-5 at the foul line.

His 27 points tied for the fourth most by a player coming off the bench in the John Calipari era at UK.

Kentucky was down 15-8 early before Reeves came in and hit three 3-pointers in four minutes to put UK on top 21-17. In the second half, UK led only 38-37 when Reeves scored twice in 40 seconds to put UK on top 43-37. A couple of minutes later he scored on a drive and foul.

“He has been UK’s most consistent player,” SEC Network analyst Dane Bradshaw said. “He kept them in the game with his 3-point shooting. He has that floater game and that time he just went all the way to the rim.

“As he has got more confident defensively, he has got more confident offensively. He is much more comfortable on both ends of the court.”

It was a bit perplexing with 15 minutes to play that five Wildcats — Oscar Tshiebwe, Jacob Toppin, Sahvir Wheeler, CJ Fredrick and Chris Livingston — had all played more minutes than Reeves. But Calipari did not take him out the rest of the game.

Tshiebwe finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds and three steals. Toppin had 18 points, four assists and three rebounds. Wheeler had nine assists.

But make no mistake about it — Reeves has turned into UK’s most important player. He’s the perimeter shooter who can get hot and change a game. If he’s not making shots, the whole offense is going to struggle.

“He just keeps the defense spread and makes it easier on everyone else,” former UK All-American Jack Givens said on the UK Radio Network.

Wheeler said after the game on the UK Radio Network that Reeves was on “fire” and played like the player he saw in the summer.

“Tonight he was really big on the road. He made some big shots, some timely shots,” Wheeler said. “He also started talking more. That kind of allowed him to lose himself in the game and gain confidence. We need him to keep doing that.”

Yes they do because as nice as this win was, it was one UK should have got even with point guard Cason Wallace out with an injury. Ole Miss had lost nine of its last 10 games. Its only SEC win was over South Carolina. The Rebels’ two best players did not play — one due to injury, one for personal reasons. And the arena was not packed with rabid fans because of an ice storm threat in Oxford.

However, Kentucky did win and now the “hope” for making the NCAA Tournament at least remains alive until the next must-win game Saturday at home against Florida.