J.D. Hall 
Kentucky Basketball
Kentucky traveled to Columbia to face the 15th-ranked Tigers on their Senior Day and, for the third straight year, spoiled the host team’s festivities with a 91-83 victory. It didn’t start well for the Wildcats, though, as Missouri raced out to an 11-4 lead just under eight minutes into the game.
Trent Noah stopped the bleeding with a three-pointer that sparked an 11-0 Kentucky run, capped off by an Otega Oweh steal and dunk to take a 15-11 lead. It was a lead Kentucky wouldn’t surrender. Although the margin hovered between 2-5 points for most of the rest of the half, the Wildcats took their largest lead of the half, 33-23, on Kobe Brea’s third first-half three-pointer. However, Missouri cut the lead to six and seemed to be gaining momentum heading into halftime—until Collin Chandler hit a three with two seconds left in the half, sending Kentucky to the break leading 38-29.
After Kentucky’s slow start, they found their footing on offense, and that continued into the second half. The Wildcats quickly pushed the lead out to 14, 46-32, on an Andrew Carr three-pointer. They would take their largest lead of the game, 62-46, just before the under-12 media timeout. Missouri, however, wouldn’t give up.
Trailing 66-51 with under 10 minutes to go, Missouri put together a quick 10-0 run to cut the deficit to five. The run was fueled by Lexington native Marques Warrick, who scored eight of his 17 second-half points during that stretch. He started it with back-to-back three-pointers and ended the run with a basket off a turnover. However, that was the closest the Tigers would get.
Oweh and Amari Williams pushed the lead back out to nine with a Williams free throw and an Oweh three-pointer, his second of the game. Kentucky extended the lead back to 11 and closed out the game at the free-throw line. Leading 70-61, 15 of Kentucky’s last 21 points over the final 5:22 came from the free-throw line. Kentucky shot 27 second-half free throws, making 21. They were led from the stripe by Williams, who hit 10 of 12, including 6 of 8 in the second half.
Leading the way on offense for Kentucky was Oweh with 22 points, 20 of which came in the second half. He finished the game 6 of 17 from the floor, 8 of 10 from the free-throw line, and also contributed three steals. Joining him in double figures were Brea with 17 points (6 of 9 field goals, 3 of 5 from three), Carr with 16 points (5 of 8 field goals, 2 of 3 from three), and Williams with 14 points and eight rebounds. Carr also posted a season-best 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the year.
Carr, who struggled through a back injury for part of the season, is starting to play like he did at the beginning of the year. He may be Kentucky’s most important player after Lamont Butler. He’s a steadying force who seems to make the big play when it’s needed most.
With the win, Kentucky clinched the No. 6 seed in the SEC Tournament and will face the winner of the Oklahoma/Georgia game on Thursday night. They’re getting healthy at the right time and are beginning to look like a team that can make a deep run.
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