Cats Bounce Back With 92-68 Win Over Mississippi State

Kentucky freshman Malachi Moreno goes up for a basket against Mississippi State's Quincy Ballard Saturday night at Rupp Arena. Moreno hit 17 points and grabbed a team-high 8 rebounds in UK's 92-68 win. (Photo by Rob Raymond)

By Hayden Kennedy

Kentucky got a much-needed win Saturday night as the Wildcats defeated the Mississippi State Bulldogs 92-68. With the win, UK's record improved to 10-6 overall and 1-2 in SEC.

The Wildcats would once again start the game slowly, falling behind by 12 points in the first five and a half minutes, but ended the first half up 44-39 with the help of Kam Williams’ nine first-half points.

Williams would finish with 14 points on 5 of 8 field goal shooting along with five rebounds. Otega Oweh continued to shine, finishing with a game-high 22 points, three rebounds, five assists, and five steals. 

UK center Malachi Moreno had a stellar night with Jayden Quaintance out with an injury. Moreno had 17 points, eight rebounds, and six assists.

In a postgame session with the media, Moreno said, “Making the plays for my teammates really got me going. To see my guys getting their buckets and getting all excited, fed me the energy to keep going.”

Moreno is just the third Kentucky player since 1996-97 to record 17 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and four steals, joining Rajon Rondo and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Kentucky point guard Jaland Lowe would leave the game within the first three minutes and did not return the rest of the night. Coach Mark Pope was asked for an update on his injury, saying, “We will know more tomorrow. He just tweaked his shoulder. We will kind of see how it responds in the morning and see where we are at with that.” 

Lowe’s recurring shoulder issues have been something to watch for Kentucky fans this season. The Wildcats benefit greatly with Lowe on the floor and may prove essential to their NCAA tournament hopes.  

Kentucky will travel to Baton Rouge on Wednesday, January 14 to take on the LSU Tigers. The contest will be shown on the SEC Network at 7:00 p.m. ET.

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The 1965-66 Kentucky Wildcats basketball team, popularly known as Rupp’s Runts, was introduced at halftime, celebrating its 60th anniversary.

Although the team had no player above 6-foot-5, hence the name Rupp’s Runts, they would go on to win the SEC championship and finished the season as the national runner-up. All-American guard Pat Riley, who would go on to win five NBA championships as a coach, spoke at halftime, saying the best years of his life were spent in Lexington playing for the University of Kentucky. 

Hayden Kennedy, a recent UK graduate, is a contributing writer from Lexington. 

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