Basketball Postgame Notes: Kentucky 90, Missouri 77

[Jeff Drummond]

KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
RUPP ARENA AT CENTRAL BANK CENTER | LEXINGTON, KY.
JAN. 9, 2024
ATTENDANCE: 20,086

Final Score: No. 6 Kentucky 90, Missouri 77

Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky is 12-2 on the season and has won six in a row. UK is 2-0 in the Southeastern Conference.
• Missouri is 8-7, 0-2 in league play.
• UK leads the series 15-3, including 9-0 in Lexington.
• Next for Kentucky: UK travels to Texas A&M on Saturday for a 2 p.m. matchup (1 p.m. in Bryan-College Station) with the Aggies. It will be televised on ESPN.

Team Notes

• Kentucky is 14-1 in SEC home openers under John Calipari.
• Kentucky has had five players score in double figures in both SEC games.
• UK scored 90 points tonight. The Wildcats entered the game third in the nation at 90.8 per game.
  • UK has scored at least 80 points in all but one game this season.
• UK shot 50 percent from the field, 28 of 56. The Wildcats are 7-0 this season when making at least half their shots.
• The Wildcats did a great job getting to the free throw line and taking advantage of their opportunities. The Cats made 27 of 32, season highs in both categories, for 84.4%.
• Kentucky won the rebounding, 42-27, posting a season-high +15 in rebound margin.
  • UK is 7-0 this season when winning the rebounding.
• Kentucky led by as many as 15 points. UK is 339-15 (95.8%) under Calipari when leading by at least 10 points during any point of the game.
• Although UK committed more turnovers, 13 vs. 11 for Mizzou, the Wildcats did the better job of converting the miscues. UK won points off turnovers, 16-4.
• Sparked by a season high 23 points from Rob Dillingham, UK won bench points 26-10.

Player Notes

• Rob Dillingham poured in a season-high 23 points, featuring 6 of 7 from the field, 3 of 3 on 3-pointers, and 8 of 10 at the foul line.
  
  • After the game, Missouri Coach Dennis Gates said of Dillingham, “He’s probably the best isolation player in college basketball, that’s what I believe.”
• Tre Mitchell notched 20 points and 14 rebounds, his third double-double in the last four games (second in a row) and 14th of his career.
  • It is his fourth straight game with double-digit rebounds and he has had at least four boards in every game this season.
  • It is UK’s first 20-10 game since Oscar Tshiebwe had 25 points and 18 rebounds in the NCAA Tournament vs. Kansas State.
• D.J. Wagner had 16 points, his eighth double-figure scoring game of the season and third in a row.
• Antonio Reeves had 14 points, including 8 of 8 at the charity stripe.
  • Reeves went 0 for 5 on 3-pointers, ending his streak of 24 consecutive games with a 3-pointer, longest since Jamal Murray’s school-record 36-game streak in the 2015-16 season.
• Aaron Bradshaw, the current SEC Freshman of the Week, had 10 points and six rebounds. It’s his fourth double-figure game of the season and the Wildcats are 5-0 since he entered the starting lineup.

Coach John Calipari

• Calipari has an 844-255 (76.8%) all-time on-court record, including 399-115 (77.6%) at Kentucky.
• Calipari is 328-65 (83.5%) at UK against unranked competition.
• Calipari is 12-5 vs. Missouri.
• Calipari is now 395-126 (75.8%) all-time in conference games, including 187-60 (75.7%) in the SEC.

In the First Half

• Kentucky started D.J. Wagner, Antonio Reeves, Justin Edwards, Tre Mitchell and Aaron Bradshaw for the fifth game in a row and has won all five games.
• Ugonna Onyenso, Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard were UK’s first substitutions with 14:10 remaining.
• Kentucky won the opening tip and Mitchell hit 3-pointers on UK’s first two possessions.
• Both teams started hot until tied at 12, when Kentucky went on a 7-0 run and never trailed again.
• Kentucky eventually led 35-21 midway through the half, but Missouri countered with a 13-2 spurt to close the gap to 37-34.
• With 11 points from Dillingham and Wagner, plus 10 from Mitchell, UK took a 47-42 lead into halftime.
• UK is now 11-1 this season when leading at halftime.

In the Second Half

• Kentucky began the second half with the starting lineup.
• UK began with an 8-4 spurt (55-46), prompting an MU timeout at 17:08.
• From there, the margin stayed between seven and 11 points until less than two minutes remaining.
• After a MU dunk at the 10:20 mark, the Tigers missed 13 straight field goal attempts, going more than nine minutes without a basket.