Ansley Almonor Helps Spark Dramatic Road Win

Ansley Almonor hit three 3-pointers at Mississippi State. (UK Athletics Photo)

Just when it seemed like Kentucky was going to get the bounce back win it really needed at Mississippi State after being soundly outplayed at Georgia Tuesday the bottom sort of fell out.

Kentucky led 65-51 at Mississippi State Saturday night with 15:55 to play. But just like that, Kentucky went scoreless for three minutes and State got on a 15-3 run and eventually got the lead at 80-78 with 8:17 to play.

A loss would have dropped UK to 1-2 in SEC play but instead of wilting Kentucky got three 3-pointers by backup Ansley Almonor in two minutes to regain the lead and went on to win 95-90.

“I have been telling everybody I would be able to come here and win us a couple of games,” said Almonor, who had 11 points in 19 minutes, on the UK Radio Network postgame show. “I am glad I could go out and back it up.”

He was one of six Wildcats in double figures as this was the kind of team victory the Cats have to have.

— Jaxson Robinson had been almost missing in action in some recent games but he was on fire early and had 25 of his 27 points in the game’s first 23 minutes. He was 7-for-10 from 3 and also hit a huge 15-foot shot late in the game to help secure the win.

— Otega Oweh powered his way to 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting to go with eight rebounds, two steals and two assists.

— Amari Williams has been criticized for playing soft but he had his third double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds to go with six assists and two blocks to offset five turnovers.

— Andew Carr was a game-time decision because of several injuries but not only played 21 minutes but had 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting and six rebounds.

— Point guard Lamont Butler added 10 points but was only 4-for-12 from the field. However, don’t let that fool you. He had eight assists in 33 1/2 minutes of play, did not make a turnover and helped harass Mississippi State star Josh Hubbard into 5-for-16 shooting from the field.

Kentucky went 16-for-32 from 3-point range and out-rebounded the physical Bulldogs 41-33 with the “relentless” effort that coach Mark Pope felt had been missing.

“Kentucky was efficient, took shots they wanted and made them at the pace they wanted,” SEC Network studio analyst Ron Slay, who picked State to win, said.

Kentucky Radio Network analyst Jack Givens had criticized UK’s lack of physical play at Georgia. He saw a different team play.

“It was a confidence builder. You have to win games like this on the road to understand what it takes to win a game like this,” Givens said after the game. “In this league every night on the road is going to be just like this. It was a huge victory.”

Almonor said the players had heard enough about not being tough enough.

“We were the hammer and not the nail,” Almonor told Givens after the game. “We were physical. We rebounded like we had not been doing. We were tough the whole 40 minutes. We responded every time they had a run.

“Coach tells us everywhere we go we will be the team’s biggest game of the year. He said prepare for that and bring the energy and the only people we have is us.”

Well, that was enough Saturday to give UK not only another huge NCAA Tournament resume win but also possibly turn into a season-changing game if it did teach the Cats not only how tough road games will be but also how to win those games.