Basketball ***** Postgame Notes: Kentucky vs. Mississippi State *****

[Jeff Drummond]

KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
HUMPHREY COLISEUM | STARKVILLE, MISS.
JAN. 11, 2025
ATTENDANCE: 9,551

Final Score: #6/7 Kentucky 95, #14/13 Mississippi State 90

Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky is now 13-3, 2-1 in the Southeastern Conference. Mississippi State is 14-2 overall, 2-1 in league play.
• Kentucky leads the series 104-21, including 40-12 in Starkville
• Mark Pope is 200-111 as head coach, including 13-3 at Kentucky.
• Next for Kentucky: the Wildcats return home to face Texas A&M on Tuesday, Jan. 14. Game time is set for 7 p.m. and will air on ESPN2.

Team Notes

• The Cats improve to 4-0 this season against AP Top-15 opponents. The four wins against teams ranked inside the top 15 are the most in the country
• Kentucky scored at least 95 points for the seventh time this season and the second time in three games in conference play. UK is 7-0 in these games
• The Wildcats were 16-of-32 from beyond the 3-point arc. The 16 made threes were the second most in a game this season for UK, and the most ever by the team against Mississippi State. It marks the second time this season that UK has shot at least 50 percent from deep (Louisville)
• UK is 10-0 this season when making double-digit 3s
• The Wildcats finished with 21 assists on 34 made field goals - an assist rate of 61.8 percent
• Six players scored in double figures for the Wildcats for the fourth time this season. UK is 4-0 in these games.

Player Notes

• Jaxson Robinson led all scorers with a season-high 27 points, including 16 in the first half. Robinson made 7-of-10 from 3-point range, a season-high in made 3s and tied for the most by a Kentucky player ever against Mississippi State (Dontaie Allen)
• Otega Oweh had 15 points and has scored in double figures in every game this season. Oweh also added a season-high eight rebounds and led the team with two steals. He has multiple steals in nine games this season including four straight
• Amari Williams posted his third double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Williams also dished out six assists, matching his career-high, and had two blocked shots
• Andrew Carr finished with 13 points and six rebounds. He has scored in double figures in 12 of 16 games this season.
• Ansley Almonor buried a season-high three triples, all in the second half, and finished with 11 points, his fourth game this season in double-figures
• Lamont Butler tied his career high in assists with eight, which was set against Florida. Butler has 19 assists across the first three SEC games of the season. He also added 10 points on the night and went without a turnover.
• Koby Brea has made a 3-pointer in every game this season and 31-straight contests overall
• Travis Perry has made a 3-pointer in three straight games

In the First Half

• Kentucky’s starters were Lamont Butler, Jaxson Robinson, Otega Oweh, Andrew Carr and Amari Williams. UK has a 11-3 record with this lineup
• Ansley Almonor was the first substitutions at 16:42
• After a quick start from the Bulldogs, Kentucky went on a 7-0 run for its first lead at 12-11 on a layup by Almonor
• Jaxson Robinson scored 16 points in the first half to lead all scorers
• It was a back-and-forth first half featuring six ties and 11 lead changes. Bulldogs led by as many as six points, UK’s largest lead was also six
• Kentucky’s 49 points scored in the first half was the team’s most ever at Humphrey Coliseum

In the Second Half

• Kentucky began the second half with the starters.
• The Wildcats began the second half on a 5-0 run to open up a 10-point lead
• A three from Brandon Garrison put Kentucky ahead by 14, 68-54, with 15:16 to go, matching UK’s largest lead
• Mississippi State would go on a 12-0 run to cut the lead to two with 12:19 remaining, and eventually knotted the game at 71 with 10:46 on the clock
• Bulldogs took their first lead of the second half with 8:17 to go on a 3-pointer from Claudell Harris Jr.
• Two-straight 3s from Ansley Almonor and a basket by Otega Oweh put the Cats up 86-80
• Mississippi State cut the lead to one with 2:00 minutes to go but could not overtake UK