Kentucky Beats Ole Miss 72-63; Cats Now Have Won Five Straight Games

Mouhamed Dioubate of Kentucky dribbles against Corey Chest of Ole Miss during UK's win over the Rebels Saturday at Rupp Arena. (UK Athletics Photo)

By Hayden Kennedy

Kentucky defeated the Ole Miss Rebels 72-63 Saturday in Rupp Arena as the Wildcats have won five straight games. The Cats improved to 14-6 overall with a record of 5-2 in conference play.

UK senior Otega Oweh has continued to be the team's leader, scoring a season-high 23 points, 20 of which came in the second half, on 6 of 12 shooting. This is Oweh’s seventh 20-point game of the season, all of which have come within the last 11 games. 

On his performance, Oweh commented, “I was in a groove, but I got tired. I could have kept going, and I feel like I let off defensively, so I can’t get tired in those situations, but I did a pretty good job down the stretch.”

Kentucky freshman Jasper Johnson finished with 11 points on 4 of 8 shooting while going 3 of 6 from the three-point line coming off the bench, including an 8-0 run by himself around the midway point of the first half.  It was his fifth double-figure game of the season.

UK coach Mark Pope was asked about Johnson’s run.

“I keep saying it every single game, he’s playing more and more and more, and playing better and better and better and getting more and more and more confident," Pope said. "He’s making some mistakes, but he’s learning from them, and he’s a really talented player, and he’s on his way.  You know, (former Wildcat and current NBA star) Shai Gilgeous Alexander didn’t start his first 10 games of his freshman season. He actually turned out to be a really good player.  Shame on those people that by game 7 said, he’s no good. Because they were wrong, Jasper has got a huge future in this game.”

In addition to point guard Jaland Lowe, who is out with a season-ending shoulder injury, the Wildcats managed to win without two other critical pieces.

Jayden Quaintance has now missed five straight games due to swelling in his knee, an injury sustained last season while at Arizona State. With Quaintance’s high NBA Draft value, some fans have speculated whether or not the 6-foot-10 sophomore center will return for the Wildcats.

The 6-foot-8 freshman guard Kam Williams had surgery yesterday to repair a broken foot sustained in the win over Texas. Pope has said that Williams will be out “for a while,” without giving an exact timeline for his return.

Both Quaintance and Williams are essential pieces to the team’s success and potential run in the NCAA tournament in just a few short months. 

Kentucky will travel to Nashville, Tennessee, on Tuesday, January 27 to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores. The contest will be shown on ESPN at 9:00 p.m. ET.

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