After starting 2026 with a 0-2 record in SEC play, Kentucky men’s basketball has bounced back and struck a two-game win streak, with a lot of credit being thrown to freshman big man Malachi Moreno, and rightfully so.
It hasn’t been the easiest ride for this year’s Kentucky squad, facing adversity and hiccups in nearly every single game, and while the Cats refuse to give up, Moreno has played a massive role in making sure the team doesn’t throw in the towel.
Following losses to No. 14 Alabama and Missouri, the Cats thrashed Mississippi State by 24 points on Jan. 10 and overcame an 18-point deficit in Baton Rouge, La., on Wednesday night, defeating the LSU Tigers 75-74.
With less than a second to spare, Moreno hoisted up a mid-range jump shot that fell as time expired, lifting the Cats to an even 2-2 record in SEC play.
The game-winning play wasn’t designed for Moreno, but in the end, he was the one who may have saved the trajectory of the Cats’ season, for now at least.
“How about a kid executing with poise?” Kentucky head coach Pope said. “He didn’t run away from the shot, he owned the shot.”
LSU was 12-4 at the time and 0-3 in SEC play, also battling the Cats without their best player, Dedan Thomas Jr,. who was sidelined with an injury, and through all of that, the Cats still found themselves in a do-or-die situation.
If Kentucky lost that game, it would’ve faced even more adversity and one could guess that the fanbase may have lost its cool, again, but thanks to Moreno, the Cats made it out of the bayou alive.
Moreno has found his name in national headlines after solely knocking off the Tigers with that buzzer beater, but aside from that one shot, he played a crucial role in the game as a whole.
He concluded the game with 10 points, a team-high eight rebounds, two assists, one block and two steals while shooting 57.1% from the field and 2-3 from the charity stripe.
One could guess that Moreno’s performance against the Tigers was a boilover from the game prior.
He torched Mississippi State with 17 points, a team-high eight rebounds, a game-high six assists and four steals, while also shooting 8-10 (80%) from the field, contributing a ton in Kentucky’s effort to get back in the win column.
Moreno has been steadily improving as the season has flown on, recording five other double-digit point performances prior to the wins over Mississippi State and LSU.
He’s also getting more time as a starter, even after projected NBA Draft lottery pick Jayden Quaintance came back for a bit.
Up to this point, 17 games in, Moreno is averaging 9.3 points, a team-high 6.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and a team-high 1.2 blocks per game.
The Cats are nowhere near complete, and they still have an unimaginable amount of work to do before they can consider themselves legit contenders, but if Moreno can keep stacking all-around performances, while other players continue to grow, the better days will undoubtedly rain down soon.
The Cats look to reach a three-game win streak on Saturday, Jan. 17, when they travel down to Knoxville, Tenn., to face the No. 24 Tennessee Volunteers. Tipoff for that game is set for noon ET and can be viewed on ESPN.
