Kentucky men’s basketball (9-6, 0-2 SEC) fell in its second SEC game of the season, falling 73-68 to the Missouri Tigers (12-3, 2-0 SEC) on Wednesday night inside Rupp Arena.
After starting off 2026 with an 89-74 loss at No. 14 Alabama on Jan. 3, Kentucky head coach Mark Pope re-evaluated his roster once more and decided to switch around the starting five ahead of its matchup with the Tigers, giving Jaland Lowe and Jayden Quaintance their first career starts as Wildcats.
Otega Oweh, Denzel Aberdeen and Mouhamed Dioubate all remained in the starting five.
Aberdeen got Kentucky off to a 2-0 start after nailing a mid-range jumpshot on the Wildcats’ first try down, Mizzou’s Mark Mitchell then got the Tigers on the board on their following possession.
The Cats went into the first media timeout on a 3:58 field goal drought following Aberdeen’s bucket and by the time the 10-minute mark surfaced, UK was shooting 3-11 (27.3%) from the field and 0-2 from deep, also surrendering three turnovers.
Oweh nailed Kentucky’s first 3-pointer of the game with just under seven minutes to go in the first half, resulting in a timeout by Mizzou head coach Dennis Gates. Out of the timeout, Oweh recorded a steal and flushed in a layup, bringing Rupp Arena to its feet.
With a little over a minute to go in the first half, Pope received his first technical foul call as the Kentucky head coach, arguing with the officials about a foul call.
Oweh ended the first half by nailing a near-full court shot, shrinking Mizzou’s lead to just one point heading into the break, trailing 33-32.
In the first half, UK shot 10-22 (45.5%) from the field and 2-5 (40%) from deep, while giving up six turnovers.
As we’ve seen in previous games, Kentucky has performed better in the second half, and on Wednesday night, they fit into the mold once more, opening the final 20 minutes of play on a 6-0 scoring run with layups from Lowe, Aberdeen and Oweh.
Kentucky also amassed a separate 6-0 lead in 26 seconds following back-to-back made 3-pointers from Lowe and Kam Williams.
UK held a 47-42 lead with 11:27 remaining in the game, guided by Oweh, who -at the time- led the Cats with a game-high 15 points. Aberdeen and Lowe were the second closest UK scorers with seven each.
With just over five minutes remaining, Malachi Moreno blocked a shot, which fell in the lap of Oweh, who then hustled down the court and threw a lob to Brandon Garrison, who slammed it home.
Following that sequence, UK recorded another stop where Oweh then came down and nailed a 3-point shot from the corner, forcing a timeout by Gates.
At that point, UK held a 66-58 advantage.
After the timeout, Missouri punched back with back-to-back baskets, which led to a timeout by Pope, making it once again anybody’s game.
With one minute remaining, Kentucky held a 68-67 lead.
Missouri regained the lead with 36 seconds remaining, and on Kentucky’s chance at a rebuttal, Garrison turned the ball over, leaving the Cats with just 28.2 to work with.
Collin Chandler forced a turnover and got the ball to Oweh, who missed a layup, bringing out the foul game with less than 20 seconds to go.
Mizzou’s Jayden Stone sank two free throws, making the score read 71-68 in favor of the Tigers with just 9.8 remaining, leading to a timeout by Pope.
On UK’s final effort, Lowe forced a 3-point shot that went off the backboard, rebounded by Mizzou, where Stone once again went 2-2, icing the game.
Kentucky will return to Rupp Arena this Saturday, Jan. 10, to face Mississippi State (9-5) at 8:30 p.m. EST. The matchup will air live on ESPN+.