It was far from easy, but the Kentucky Wildcats once again went on the road and scored an SEC win in a tough environment by beating Missouri, 72-62.
Bam Adebayo had a monster game for John Calipari’s team, scoring 22 points and adding 15 rebounds on the night.
Despite only turning the ball over nine times (compared to Kentucky’s 17), Missouri just couldn’t hit enough shots late in the game. The Tigers only managed to go 4-for-22 from three (18.2%), and missing nine free throws didn’t help their cause, either.
The Wildcats won the rebounding battle 44-31, and Terrence Phillips’ 22 points simply weren’t enough for Missouri to pull off the upset.
Blake’s Analysis:
Give Missouri head coach Kim Anderson credit for keeping his team competitive this season.
The Tigers are no longer the worst team in the SEC, but that doesn’t take the sting away from this particular stat:
Mizzou is the first team in SEC history to have 3 straight seasons of 20+ losses.
— Jeff Parles (@jeffparles) February 22, 2017
That stat will likely get Anderson fired this offseason. If it doesn’t, then Missouri basketball has a long road ahead.
As for Kentucky, the Wildcats have continued to take everyone’s best shot when they’ve hit the road this season. This team has only won a single road game by more than 10 points this season, and that was the conference opener at Ole Miss (99-76 victory).
The questions surrounding Kentucky’s chance to win a national title are valid at this point, but it’s important to remember that the NCAA tournament is played in a neutral setting.
And let’s be honest: the Wildcats will have the home court advantage in a lot of those games due to Big Blue Nation making their presence felt everywhere the team travels.
With this Missouri win behind them, the Wildcats will now set their sights on the biggest conference game of the season when they host a streaking Florida team in Lexington on Saturday.