Kentucky Wins in Starkville 95-90

After losing to Georgia on the road in their first SEC road game, Kentucky bounced back with their first road win of the season. Down in Starkville, the Cats put on an offensive clinic to reach 95 points, the most points given up by Mississippi State all season. The Cats got big performances from some unexpected contributors and walked out of The Hump with a top fifteen win.

Jaxson Robinson Leads the Way

Jaxson Robinson had his best game of the season for the Cats. Robinson finished with 27 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists on 9-12 shooting and 7-10 from three. Robinson displayed why he was Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year last season with his highest point total in blue and white. He was joined in double figures by Otega Oweh (15), Andrew Carr (13), Ainsley Almonor (11), Amari Williams (10), and Lamont Butler (10). Andrew Carr was a game time decision to play after battling illness and a back injury, but Ainsley Almonor finished the game for him for the first time in a close game. Almonor hit three shots from distance in an 11-2 run from the 7:16 to 5:16 marks in the second half.

Kentucky Kept the Stars in Check

Kentucky shot well as a team, but the turnover problems pestered the Cats once again. Kentucky had 13 turnovers, only one less than the matchup in Athens, but 21 assists instead of the 8 we saw earlier in the week showed Kentucky responded to Pope’s calling for better ball movement and looking for the extra pass. Claudell Harris and Josh Hubbard came in as State’s top scorers, but Kentucky held them both under their season average. They combined for 45.45% from the field and 30% from three in one of their worst combined offensive outputs of the season. Lamont Butler especially shined keeping Hubbard from getting easy looks from deep and allowing help defenders to stick closer to their defenders.

The Questions were Answered

Big Blue Nation came into the game with a ton of skepticism, and rightfully so. Kentucky hadn’t shown the ability to win a road game, and had struggled against more physical teams, but getting a win against the team ranked #36 in defensive efficiency shows they have answers to the physicality questions being asked. The Cats finally got north of 30 attempts from deep and converted half of their three-point shots for 48 of their 95 points. Stretching the floor is the best answer to any offensive problem, but especially a team struggling to finish around the rim through traffic.

Kentucky still has not lost back-to-back games since Mark Pope took over, and Kentucky has not lost to Mississippi State in the regular season since Billy Clyde was roaming the sidelines. The Cats get another chance to showcase their improvements against physical defense against Texas A&M on Tuesday in Rupp Arena, and hopefully they will continue to show the increased continuity moving forward.