No. 9 Kentucky men’s basketball had a tall task in the first round of the 2026 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament on Wednesday afternoon, facing the No. 16 LSU Tigers.
When I say “tall task,” I’m not talking about the talent within LSU, I’m more so talking about the mental pressure that tagged the Wildcats; if they dropped the SEC tournament opener, there would be a public outcry from the Kentucky fanbase.
In front of those Big Blue Nation members that scurried down to catch the Cats partake in a mid-day contest, the team stepped up tremendously, shooting 50% from the field while turning the ball over just five times en route to an 87-82 victory.
For the first time in what feels like a long time, the Cats were able to get the job done with other contributors.
Production did not just solely come through Otega Oweh, who earned all SEC second-team honors and has been UK’s consistent go-to guy all season long.
What if I told you that it wasn’t only Denzel Aberdeen or Collin Chandler either?
It was Brandon Garrison.
Oweh still led Kentucky in points and rebounds with 23 and eight, but Garrison showed up on both sides of the floor, reaching 17 points while totaling five rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks as well.
“I was feeling good,” Garrison said. “You know, shots were going in today, you’re going to have days where they don’t go in but you can’t control that, you can control your energy, and I feel like I had great energy today.”
The last time Garrison reached double-digits in a game was on Feb. 4 when he put up 20 points in Kentucky’s 94-78 victory over the Oklahoma Sooners inside of Rupp Arena.
Against the Tigers, Garrison finished the game shooting 7-9 from the field, 2-3 from deep and 1-2 at the free-throw line.
Making two 3-point field goals doesn’t seem like that big of a deal in the eyes of a casual fan, but for Garrison, it was, considering the 6-foot-10 big man only registered two made 3-point field goals throughout the course of the regular season.
Garrison’s two made triples came back-to-back when there was less than 10 minutes to go in the game.
Before he splashed those 3-pointers, UK only had a 65-64 lead while LSU was responding to every bucket that the Cats got to fall.
Those 3-pointers were a major turning point in the game, and that was all the momentum that the Wildcats needed in order to run away with the contest and advance to the second round.
“I feel like those two back-to-back three’s kind of unfolded the huddle and got us on that big run,” Garrison said.
The Cats are now slated to face the No. 8 Missouri Tigers in the second round on Thursday, March 12, a team that it already fell to back on Jan. 7 in Rupp Arena.
Back when the Tigers made their trip to Lexington in January, Kentucky led for 43% of the game and got its lead up to as much as eight points.
However, a collapse in the closing minutes allowed Missouri to rule victorious and leave Lexington with the 73-68 win.
“We’re ready for that rematch, you know, I feel like we should’ve got them at home, but we let that one go,” Garrison said. “We have a chance to, you know, regroup and go out there and show them that we can beat them, so I’m excited for it.”
Kentucky’s contest against the Tigers is set for 12:30 p.m. EST. That game can be viewed on the SEC Network.
