Kentucky extends win streak to five games, beats Ole Miss 72-63

The Kentucky Wildcats were back in Rupp Arena on Saturday for an early 11 a.m. tipoff against the Ole Miss Rebels. After winning their last four games, Kentucky went in looking to continue the recent momentum, and they did just that, beating Ole Miss 72-63 as their win streak now extends to five games. This was another must-win game and the Wildcats took care of business despite the late-game scare without the trio of Jaland Lowe, Jayden Quaintance, and Kam Williams, who suffered an injury in Wednesday's game.

Kentucky started out very slow on offense and part of that was due to Otega Oweh's early-game foul trouble, as he went out with 15:48 to go in the first half and came back in with 8:40 left in that half. As soon as Oweh returned, Kentucky went on an 8-0 run and the reason was because eight-straight points from freshman Jasper Johnson, who really stepped up to get the team going, as Ole Miss started to really struggle offensively. But, the bad shooting continued for much of the first half from then on for both teams, despite that run by Johnson.

Ole Miss came in as a team that sent opponents to the line a lot, and that's where Kentucky had to get their points early, but that was also how the Rebels kept it close with the Wildcats. Both teams finished the first half a combined 15-53 from the field, as fouls really kept this game tight. The Rebels were able to stay with Kentucky from then on thanks to fouls, as the frontcourt faced major foul trouble with Malachi Moreno, Brandon Garrison and Mo Dioubate all had three with 13:25 left, which was where a guy like Jayden Quaintance was missed. But it was also due to Ole Miss guard Patton Pinkins knocking down some big threes early. The Wildcats found themselves really needing to begin pulling way with the lead, but Ole Miss kept knocking down big shots to keep things close. Down the stretch, though, Otega Oweh was huge for Kentucky escaping with the win. He finished with 20 of his 23 points coming in the second half, but Collin Chandler's three with 47 seconds left to put Kentucky up 66-60 was the biggest play of them all. The Wildcats also went 19-26 from the line in the second half, as Ole Miss went just 6-8. Like the Texas game, free throws were huge.

Kentucky was able to avoid the scare by Ole Miss in the final minutes thanks to both huge rebounds and free throws, but especially thanks to Collin Chandler's huge three.. Mark Pope's squad did what they ultimately needed to do, and that's leave Rupp Arena with the win in a game they couldn't afford to lose, especially with the brutal schedule they have coming up. Next for the Wildcats, they head to Nashville on Tuesday to face the #15 Vandy Commodores, as their win streak will certainly be tested.