Kentucky couldn’t stop hot-shooting Mississippi in Oxford on Tuesday night.
The Rebels (17-6, 6-4 Southeastern Conference) made 13 3-pointers and shot a blistering 55 percent from the field, including a 61 percent clip in the first half, en route to a 98-84 win over the 14th-ranked Wildcats. Ole Miss never trailed and defeated the Wildcats for just the second time in the last 11 games between the two conference foes. the Rebels snapped a three-game losing streak with an easy victory.
The loss was the second in a row for the Wildcats, who have suffered four setbacks in the past five conference encounters. Kentucky (15-7, 4-5 SEC) has lost back-to-back games twice this season, all against league opponents.
The Rebels set the tone early, scoring the first five points, and closed out the first half with a 15-2 run for a 52-31 lead at the break. It marked Kentucky’s largest halftime deficit since 2013 when the Wildcats trailed 50-26 at Tennessee. The Volunteers went on to defeat Kentucky, 88-58.
For the third straight game, Kentucky was without point guard Lamont Butler, who sat out because of a shoulder injury.
Kentucky, which trailed by 27 at 64-37 early in the second half, narrowed the margin to 11 with 7:23 remaining but failed to get within single digits despite outscoring the hosts 53-44 in the second half.
Otega Oweh led five players in double figures with 24 points for the Wildcats, followed by Jaxson Robinson with 18. Amari Williams became the first Kentucky player to record a triple-double in more than a decade with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Andrew Carr and Koby Brea added 10 points apiece.
Although Ole Miss was unstoppable, Kentucky shot 50 percent from the field and made 10 3-pointers. The Wildcats made 17 of 27 field goal attempts in the second half to avoid a total collapse. Kentucky shot 38.7 percent (12-for-32) in the first half.
Matthew Murrell led No. 25 Ole Miss with 24 points and made six 3-pointers, including four in the first frame, with three of those during the Rebels’ surge to end the half.
GAMETRACKER: South Carolina at Kentucky, 11 a.m., Saturday. TV/Radio: SECN, UK Radio Network SuperTalk 94.3 WKYX and WiLLiE 102.
Kentucky forward Andrew Carr (7), left, and Mississippi forward Jaemyn Brakefield (4) go for the ball during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Oxford, Miss., Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruce Newman)
