The Cats get back in the win column.
The Kentucky Wildcats ran the Mississippi State Bulldogs out of the gym on Saturday night in Lexington by a final score of 92-68.
The Cats got off to another slow start in this one, but they woke up in exciting fashion. Following extensive boo birds, and rightfully so, something clicked after Kentucky was embarrassed for the first 15 or so minutes of the first half. The Bulldogs held a 12-point lead, but Mark Pope’s squad went on a massive run to take a 44-39 lead into the half.
After the break, the Cats never relinquished the lead, and they flat-out dominated. This looked like a completely different team. It’s unclear what clicked and/or what they found, but it worked, and I hope we see a lot more of it. From about the five-minute mark in the first half, this was a fun game and felt like vintage Kentucky basketball. Pure domination.
Next up, the Cats will travel to Baton Rouge on Wednesday night at 7:00 P.M. to take on the LSU Tigers.
Moreno comes to life
Malachi Moreno lost his starting spot last time out, but he was back in full force in this one.
The freshman has shown flashes despite low expectations entering the season, and he was mighty impressive tonight. Moreno looked like a mismatch from the jump. He scored in double figures for the first time in over a month.
The Kentucky native also clearly took Nate Oats’ comments about his passing to heart. He racked up six assists, setting a new career high (by double), and unveiling a potential new and important facet of his game. That ability will earn him a lot of playing time, as we all know how important the bigs are in Pope’s scheme.
Jaland Lowe is hurt, again
Health has been the story of this season. It took half the season for this team to finally get healthy, but as soon as they got there, Jayden Quaintance was out tonight due to knee swelling, and Jaland Lowe reinjured his shoulder during the game.
The reason health has been the story of the season isn’t just because of the extensive injuries, but many people blamed UK’s early season struggles on the injuries. The last few games have made it clear that this team isn’t good, and injuries might have magnified that, but it didn’t change it one way or another.
Lowe looked rusty in his return to play, but he’s been arguably UK’s best and most important player in the three games leading up to this one. He’s been the straw that stirs the drink.
Surprisingly, Kentucky really put things together after Lowe went down.
I don’t believe that was a long-term indictment of Lowe so much as a matchup-based issue. MSU is a very physical team, hence why Lowe might have been reinjured in the first place. UK looked better without Lowe in this game, something I don’t think Pope would’ve figured out on his own, but he’s an integral part of this team going forward.
Fingers crossed that UK gets healthy AND Pope learns how to use the pieces at his disposal when/if they do.
Balance and passing are key
This team has been well-established as that of a bunch of role players. Otega Oweh is the “star” but not one in the traditional sense. There aren’t any high-profile freshmen, and there’s no one who can take over a basketball game.
That means that this team has to execute well. They have to defend. They have to have good ball movement. They have to finish when they get open looks. And they have to take advantage of mismatches. They haven’t done any of that to this point in the season.
However, what’s been clear is that Kentucky is at its best when multiple guys are sharing the load, and they’re sharing the ball when doing so. The Cats have an elite assist rate against bad teams, but they’ve been abysmal against basically every decent team they’ve played.
Sharing the ball is contagious, and the product is so much prettier when the Cats are doing just that, and there’s balance in the lineup. Kentucky had four double-digit scorers, Oweh did his thing, and the ball movement was a sight for sore eyes.
This is the key to success. Now, it’s time for some consistency.
Go Cats!
Category: General Sports
