Vicky Graff Photo
Center Jayden Quaintance did not play because of an issue with his knee. Point guard Jaland Lowe went out less than three minutes into the game after injuring his shoulder again. Power forward Mo Dioubate played only 13 minutes for a variety of reasons.
Still, even after falling behind 18-6 less than six minutes into the game, Kentucky rolled to a 92-68 win over visiting Mississippi State that at least gives Big Blue fans hope again — something fans didn’t have when they booed the Cats for their lack of hustle and execution less than five minutes into the game.
Sparked by the first half scoring of Kam Williams, Kentucky got rolling and then outscored State 48-29 in the second half to get its first Southeastern Conference win of the season.
“We were just focusing on finishing the game after letting the last one (a loss to Missouri) slip away,” said Otega Oweh, who led UK with 22 points on 10-for-17 shooting, five assists, five steals, three rebounds, and one blocked shot in 32 minutes. “I think we did a really good job of just paying attention to the details. Last game, we were not good at that. We had high intensity but were still smart and calm. We were sharing the ball and making plays for teammates.”
Even without a true point guard due to Lowe’s injury, Kentucky had 21 assists as center Malachi Moreno had six, Oweh five, and Denzel Aberdeen four.
“It is amazing what happens when you pass the ball to your teammate,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said.
It’s also amazing how the game looks when you are making shots. Kentucky was 37 of 67 — 55.2 percent — from the field and 9-for-22 from 3 as Oweh, Aberdeen, and Kam Williams all made two 3-pointers. Williams provided the spark UK needed after its horrendous start with nine first-half points, including a key 3-pointer.
“Kam came off the bench and was the most aggressive he has been,” Pope said.
Williams finished with 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting but also had five rebounds, two assists, and two steals in his 30 minutes.
No one was better than Moreno, who was called out along with UK’s other bigs by Alabama coach Nate Oats earlier for not passing the ball. Not only did Moreno pass, but he forced Mississippi State to finally abandon its high pick-and-roll offense because of the way he smothered the play. He finished with 17 points on 8-for-10 shooting, eight rebounds (six offensive), six assists, and four steals.
“I thought Malachi was incredible against a really physical front line. He handled the double team. I thought he was elite and saved us a little bit,” Pope said.
Former UK All-American Jack Givens raved about Moreno, the former Great Crossing High School star and Kentucky Mr. Basketball, on the UK Radio Network.
“That young man is getting so much better. He is rebounding the basketball,” Givens said. “He is defending the high pick and roll. Kentucky had no answer for the high pick and roll all season, but the way Moreno stepped out and showed his big body to whoever was coming over the screen and recovered to the big he left was exactly the way it should be played.
“It was easy to see the way Moreno played it and the way (Brandon) Garrison played it. Teams are going to continue to run the high screen and roll, and it is good to see the way he defended it and made them go away from it. Malachi played great and did a lot of really good stuff.”
Kentucky needed to do a lot of good stuff after losing at Alabama and blowing a late eight-point lead to fall to Missouri. This win does not save the season, but a loss could have effectively ended it.
Pope said UK went to a new defensive scheme that worked after a rough start and he also got more cohesive overall play from his team. Lowe could be out for an extended period — or even elect to have surgery now and maintain a medical redshirt request. Quaintance could continue to have knee issues. However, UK showed in this win it could still play well and win against a team that started SEC play 2-0.
“We got so much talent that we just have to make the simple play and get guys in position where they can make plays,” Oweh said. “The last couple of weeks we have been trying to figure out our offense. We are at our best in transition but we have got to get (defensive) stops to do that.
“We just have to hold each other accountable. I feel like we can stack up with anybody.”
11 Responses
Hats off. Good win. Owehs comments at the bottom of the article about stacking up with anybody…hmmmmm don't think so…
Williams turned the tide in the first half. Oweh and Moreno played their best game to date. Aberdeen needs to watch this game and notice the difference in his first half play vs. the second half. Johnson will pick up Lowe's minutes and needs to play in the first half from now on and so does Jelavic. Jelavic gave us balance on both ends of the floor. Chandler has to get better defensively, but his offense was passable. Those 7 kids need to get the bulk of the minutes in Baton Rouge, the rest will provide rest for these guys. We HAVE TO WIN the next 3 games just to be in a position to save this season. I guess we will find out what we are made of in the next 10 days.
Did Noah call-in sick and skip a practice? It's obvious that Pope is pissed at him over something. Garrison and Dioubate need to play within their limits and not force things. Garrison can still help this team with relief minutes. I am not so sure about Dioubate; he was not happy getting benched in the second half.
Noah was limping when he was taken out and left the court.
It was a great win but not sure how much to read into it. We finally got some improved D and better ball movement in 2nd half. I was glad to see Jelavic hit that 3 bc you could tell he was tentative to shoot. Still not sure what going on with Chandler. He passed up some good shots and seems to have lost confidence and has regressed from last year. Moreno let a couple of boards get away at rim and could have had 10. Hopefully we can keep this moving forward next Wed.
Mike you are right in your cautious optimism, especially give the Mizzou debacle. The next 3 games will tell if this team has turned the corner or just merely had another flash in the pan.
I know a lot of BBN will be mad at me because we did win but I watched West Virginia beat Kansas, Wisconsin give Michigan their first loss and then watched the Replay this morning of the Cats win. The Cats won but it just wasn’t that good of a game to watch, not even the second half. I read before watching the game Givens raved about Moreno but I just didn’t see anything then he should have not done and several plays where he could have been a lot better That’s why You can’t believe everything sports casters say especially ex-players. Reading about the game You would think they Beat Michigan! And the last thing where Owens said they could stack up with anybody? I don’t see it, I believe this game was Fool’s Gold.
Moreno had a hell of a game. Freshman or no freshman.
The team plays so much better with Mo-D off the floor. He is definitely the airball king and never really looks like he cares. He's always pointing his finer at someone else. I would bench Mo+D we went on the run with him on the bench and we played so much better with him on the bench. I wouldn't play him no more unless foul trouble or injury. Aberdeen is ok when he doesn't rush his shots and looks for the open man. If he would learn to pass first instead of shooting almost every time he gets the ball we would be so much better. Pope needs to tell Aberdeen you and Johnson are the point guards. I would play Johnson over Aberdeen because Johnson will more than likely be here next year. Williams is the one player who needs to play more. He should be getting about 5-6 more mins a game in fact I would play Williams over Mo and Aberdeen. Williams is only a sophomore and is the best shooter on the team. I used to think Chandler and Noah were the best shooters but I see against good teams neither can shoot with a hand in there face. Williams pulls from NBA range and his shot is beautiful.nice rotation beautiful form and splash. Williams needs to shoot at least 6-7 threes every game. Chandler should be shooting 4-5 threes a game and Noah should be shooting 2-3 a game. I've heard ,Noah broke curfew and didn't attend a meeting because he slept through it. That's why he's been in the dog house. Honestly we play better when Noah Mo and Aberdeen play less. Aberdeen is the most helpful to the team out of the 3. Oweh has been on a tear is shooting the ball much better. He needs to stay hot. He's shooting 38% from 3 the highest percentage on the team. That shows out shooters aren't shooters. I would start Johnson/Oweh/Williams/Jelavic/Moreno backups Aberdeen/Chandler/Noah/Mo-D/Garrison. JQ and Lowe are out. Potter and Hawthorne are redshirts. That leaves us with 10 players. We need to stick with the best 8-9 guys and have a odd man out which to me would be Mo-D but to Pope it's Noah.
Everybody has been questioning why Noah hasn't play much lately. Im hearing he's nursing a injury to his ankle. But why this hasn't been in the injury report have no idea
I had heard that 2 players went to an all night party and called in sick and missed practice the next day. That doesn't sound like Noah though. The article said Pope said they would never play for him again.
Shouldn't be tio hard to figure out..Look for the 2 players who don't get off the bench
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