If nothing else, Kentucky has proven it’s a resilient team.
After losing its first two Southeastern Conference games, a situation that usually provokes panic in the Bluegrass State, the Wildcats have rattled off four straight wins heading into Saturday morning game against Ole Miss in Lexington, Ky.
The latest was an 85-80 home victory Wednesday night over Texas that saw Denzel Aberdeen score 19 points while Collin Chandler and Otega Oweh each added 18. Kentucky (13-6, 4-2 SEC) also knocked down 30 of 35 foul shots.
Oweh is the team’s leading scorer, averaging 15.7 points while chipping in 4.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.0 steals per game. In 55 games for Kentucky since transferring from Oklahoma, Oweh has scored in double figures 52 times.
Kentucky coach Mark Pope appreciates Oweh’s steady contributions.
“Probably the most consistent player I’ve ever coached,” Pope said. “He brings it every game.”
Aberdeen adds 12.6 points for a deep team that has eight players scoring at least 6.0 per game. But one of them, Tulane transfer Kam Williams, will be out for an undetermined amount of time after breaking his foot Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Ole Miss (11-8, 3-3) arrives in Lexington off a 78-66 home loss to Auburn on Tuesday night. The Rebels made just 22 of 61 shots from the field and were thumped on the boards 43-26. In addition, they fouled constantly, enabling the Tigers to make 32 of 39 free throws.
“Just a really disappointing night from my standpoint,” coach Chris Beard said. “It was just a wasted opportunity. One team was very aggressive with a mindset to get to the free throw line and we were settling for shots. We’ve got to coach better and put the guys in better positions.”
AJ Storr, who scored 18 points against Auburn, and Malik Dia are the Rebels’ leading scorers at 13.6 per game. Ilias Kamardine adds 11.3 points and a team-high 4.1 assists to the attack.
This will be the only meeting of the season between the programs.
–Field Level Media
