Kentucky men’s basketball (16-7, 7-3 SEC) took down the Oklahoma Sooners (11-12, 1-9 SEC) 94-78, dominating from beyond the arc, taking over the No. 2 spot in conference rankings.
After a whirlwind week on the road, including an 80-55 blowout loss to No. 18 Vanderbilt (18-3, 5-3 SEC), and one 85-77 upset victory over No. 15 Arkansas (16-6, 6-3 SEC), on Saturday, the Cats returned to Rupp looking to take down the Sooners.
In the absence of Kam Williams, Mark Pope has remained with the same starting five through the past three games, consisting of Otega Oweh, Denzel Aberdeen, Andrija Jelavic, Collin Chandler and Malachi Moreno.
Aberdeen opened up the scoring with a deep three, but it would be the Sooners taking the early lead with a couple of scores and two free throws. However, Jelavic would quickly tie it at six with a three of his own.
The teams went into the first timeout tied at 10, Kentucky finding its only points from beyond the arc. That trend continued, as Kentucky’s first lead of the game would come courtesy of another deep three from Aberdeen.
It was a back-and-forth affair, but Kentucky maintained a slight edge, shooting 46.7% from the field and, more impressively, 50% from the field in the first ten minutes.
The game stayed within a score, and at the six-minute mark, the Sooner would tie it – but Chandler would answer on the other end with a three-pointer.
The threes kept falling for the Cats.
With 3:54 remaining in the half, Oweh sank one of his own, giving Kentucky its largest lead of the game, taking a 35-30 lead on the Sooners heading into a timeout.
For the first time all season, the Cats were finding their entire offense from deep. Kentucky’s lead would move to six, with Chandler nailing his second three of the half – but that wouldn’t be his last.
Only one minute later, he drained another one, followed by a Mo Dioubate layup, giving Kentucky its first double-digit lead of the game, the Cats heading into the half up 43-32.
Chandler would go on to finish the game shooting a career high of 18 points, 14 of them coming from beyond the arc.
Kentucky shot 46.7% from the field, and a whopping 56.3 from the three – those shots making up 27 of the Cats’ 43 first half points – and 75% from the charity stripe.
Not only was Kentucky shooting the best it has all season, but the numbers were in Kentucky’s favor, as under Mark Pope, Kentucky is 31-1 when leading at halftime.
Kentucky came out of the break hot and would extend its lead to 14 in the first two minutes of the second half. Oklahoma’s offense continued falling short, and by the 16:47 mark, the Cats pushed the lead to 17.
Oweh came out hot, shooting perfectly from the field and three, and hitting two free throws for seven total points in the first three and a half minutes. The former Oklahoma Sooner put up 24 points, tying the third-highest scoring performance in his career. His two highest came against the Sooners just last season.
However, the Sooners didn’t back down from the challenge – down by as much as 17, they slowly fought their way back, and an 8-0 scoring run would bring the deficit down to 11.
In the same period, Kentucky went over two minutes without a field goal. However, Brandon Garrison found a basket at the 13-minute mark, followed by Oweh, retaking the lead by 15.
The first ten minutes of the second half were arguably the Cats’ best ten minutes all season. The Cats combined for 27 total points, shooting 66.7 % from the field and 50% from the three, and over 83% on free throws, nailing five of seven straight field goal attempts.
With six minutes left in the game, the Cats found themselves up by 15, with three players in double digits, highlighted by Garrison, who had a season high of 13 points on the board, eventually ending with a monster 20 points, 18 of them coming in the second half alone.
Oklahoma kept fighting back and slowly closed the deficit, but it was a case of too little, too late for the Sooners, and Kentucky would walk away victorious, earning its seventh SEC win of the season, winning all seven in its last eight games.
The Cats finished the game shooting 50.0% from the field, 46.2% from the three and just over 81% on free throws. The Cats ended the game nailing their most three pointers (12) since December.
Kentucky will return to action this Saturday, Feb. 7, hosting the No. 25 Tennessee Volunteers (16-6, 6-3 SEC) for the rivals’ second conference meeting. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. EST and will air live on ESPN.
