Kentucky makes one more statement before tournament time. Cats win at No. 15 Missouri.

Ben Roberts, Lexington Herald-Leader on Mar 8, 2025

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COLUMBIA, Mo. — The offensive explosion expected by many failed to materialize in the early going.

By the end, the Kentucky Wildcats had found another way put themselves in a position to win.

The 19th-ranked Cats defeated No. 15 Missouri 91-83 on Saturday in Mizzou Arena, a victory that clinched a winning record in SEC play on the final day of the regular season.

Missouri and Kentucky came into the day at No. 5 and No. 6 in the KenPom offensive efficiency ratings, but — at the beginning — you wouldn’t have known it by the product on the court.

The Cats missed seven of their first eight shots and didn’t make a 2-pointer until more than 11 minutes had ticked off the clock. But Mizzou was running just as cold on the other end of the floor. The Tigers shot 4 for 17 from the field in the first nine minutes of the game.

The biggest lead Missouri could build amid UK’s shooting woes was seven points. And as soon as that deficit came, the Cats turned on the gas.

Kentucky unleashed an 11-0 run — with 3-pointers by Trent Noah, Koby Brea and Travis Perry, followed by a steal and dunk from Otega Oweh — to take a 15-11 lead. The Cats never trailed again.

In those first several minutes when the shots wouldn’t fall, Kentucky managed to stick around with its defense. And as the game wore on, there were plenty of gritty moments for the Wildcats, who managed to stymie one of the best offenses in college basketball before they could figure out how to score themselves.

Even with Oweh and Lamont Butler limited in playing time due to foul trouble in the first half, the Cats were able to find their rhythm. They ended up going 7 for 12 from 3-point range in the first half — Brea made all three of his long-range attempts — and by the time Collin Chandler nailed one from deep in the final seconds before halftime, Kentucky had a 38-29 lead.

Missouri, a team that was averaging 84.6 points per game, had scored only 20 with three minutes left in the half.

Oweh scored the first two buckets of the second half — a 3-pointer and a layup — to push Kentucky’s lead to 43-30. Andrew Carr followed with a 3-pointer right after that, and Carr’s free throws a little bit later extended the Cats’ advantage to 16 points.

UK, playing one week after starting guard Jaxson Robinson was ruled out for the rest of the season with a wrist injury, was a 6.5-point underdog at tipoff.

Starting with a 3-pointer by Marques Warrick, the Tigers went on a 10-0 run to narrow UK’s lead to 66-61 with more than six minutes left. Warrick had eight points during that spree, and it forced Kentucky coach Mark Pope to call a timeout.

A free throw from Amari Williams and a 3-pointer from Oweh stretched UK’s lead back to nine points. The Tigers narrowed it to five again in the final minutes, but Kentucky’s 6-0 run put the lead back in double digits with a little more than two minutes left.

The Cats held off the home team from there.

Oweh finished with 22 points and three steals. Carr had 16 points and 12 rebounds. Brea scored 17 points. And Williams ended up with 14 points and eight rebounds.

Kentucky and Missouri both finished the regular season at 21-10 and 10-8 in the SEC, and the road victory for the Wildcats likely went a long way toward securing a 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

First up will be the SEC Tournament, and that bracket was still up in the air Saturday afternoon. UK will begin its league tournament with a game Thursday in Nashville, Tenn.

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