OXFORD, MS. — No. 14 Kentucky men’s basketball was pantsed on the road against No. 25 Ole Miss inside the Sandy and John Black Pavilion on Tuesday night, losing 98-84 after an abysmal first half of play.
The loss threatened to be by far the worst of the Mark Pope era with the Cats being down by as many as 27 in the contest, never leading, but efforts that proved to be too-little, too-late made the game closer than initially anticipated.
Kentucky entered the contest on the back of an embarrassing 79-69 defeat at home versus the John-Calipari-led Arkansas Razorbacks. The loss to Cal’s Hogs marked the third loss in four games for UK and yet another unranked defeat on the resume.
Looking to bounce back despite starting point guard Lamont Butler once again being ruled out, Kentucky brought out a starting lineup of Otega Oweh, Jaxson Robinson, Koby Brea, Ansley Almonor and Amari Williams, opting to keep Andrew Carr out of the starting lineup following issues with back spasms.
Going against another top 25 team on the road in a brutal SEC, Kentucky started the game flat, going scoreless on multiple possessions and trailing by eight just over five minutes into the game with only seven points scored itself. Before long, UK fans saw the insertions of Travis Perry, Trent Noah, Carr and Brandon Garrison into the lineup.
With the foresight of what was to come, it is unsurprising that the Cats continued to fall on their faces down the stretch against the Rebels, who soon led 31-18 by the time freshman Collin Chandler made it into the UK lineup.
Kentucky continued to flounder in the first half, next finding itself down 41-28 with the Rebels shooting nearly 60% from the floor.
It would only get worse from there as the Wildcats would allow a 15-3 run to close out the first half, finding themselves trailing by 23 points as three Rebels combined for 34.
Coming back onto the floor after perhaps the worst and most uninspired half of basketball the team has played all season, the Wildcats did show more fight offensively, but for much of the first portion of the second half it didn’t matter much as the home Rebels matched their every move.
In fact, just over five minutes into the half, Kentucky had scored 12 points and been battling offensively, only to find that its gap had instead grown to 25 points.
From there, Kentucky would find minor wins over the Rebels, metaphorical battles of Williamsburg and McDowell, but a Gettysburg still seemed out of reach as the lead remained 18 with under 12 to go and 15 with under nine to go.
With that in mind, however, a jumper by Williams and an Oweh rebound following an Ole Miss miss saw UK back within 13 with under eight to play after Oweh was fouled. The chance was slim, but there seemed to be a slim chance, a light at the end of the tunnel.
Just as quickly as that light seemed to peak over the horizon, however, it was snuffed out by sloppy turnovers, empty possessions and an Ole Miss offense that maintained its pulse.
Despite getting as close as 11 points and 18 points from both Oweh and Robinson, Kentucky still found itself behind by 14 with just over four minutes remaining. The bell upon the steeple of Appomattox Courthouse was preparing to ring, but, this time, it would signal Rebel victory rather than defeat.
With Ole Miss’ Matthew Murrell reaching 22 points — Oweh, by this point, had reached 20, doing seemingly everything in his being to will his squad back into it — with over three minutes remaining in the second half and the lead at 14, the question was no longer did Kentucky have a chance, but, rather, how much longer would the defeat be dragged out and could it make it any closer.
Ultimately, in the end, a surrender was agreed upon, made final by the buzzer above the SJB Pavilion. The hideous bell delivered the Cats their fourth loss in five games to fall to 4-5 in the SEC.
Kentucky will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 8, back at home inside Rupp Arena against South Carolina. Tipoff against the Gamecocks is scheduled for noon ET and will air live on ESPN2.
