After a rough weekend on the Southeastern Conference hardwood, No. 14 Kentucky and No. 25 Ole Miss will try to get their seasons pointed in the right direction Tuesday night in Oxford, Miss.
For Kentucky (15-6, 4-4 SEC), the drama of former coach John Calipari’s return to Lexington and its historic basketball arena is over, though it ended very well for the current Arkansas bench boss.
The Razorbacks, with Calipari manning the opposing bench in Rupp Arena, took a slim one-point lead into halftime, came out of the locker room on fire and steamrolled the Wildcats, winning 89-79 as the visitors led by as many as 14 points.
The outcome handed the Wildcats their third loss in four games and the second-largest margin of defeat in conference play. Georgia dismantled Kentucky 82-69 on Jan. 7.
First-year coach Mark Pope did not blame the return of Calipari — Kentucky’s coach for 15 years — on the disappointing outcome and said his team should be accustomed to big moments while wearing Kentucky blue.
“I don’t think so,” Pope replied when asked of the hype. “This is every game, right? That’s the beauty of Kentucky, right? It’s every night is the biggest game ever. If we go on the road, it’s the biggest game ever and we are really blessed to have the greatest fan base in the world and so every night here is the biggest game ever.
“I think our guys are pretty used to that.”
Seven-foot senior Amari Williams led the Wildcats in three categories — points (22), rebounds (11) and assists (three).
His season-high scoring output marked the first time the former Drexel center paced the team in points. He has been the top rebounder a dozen times.
A 10-point producer Saturday, Otega Oweh is the only SEC player and one of only 13 in Division I who has tallied double figures in every contest.
Kentucky point guard Lamont Butler (shoulder) is in jeopardy of missing his third straight game.
Even after dropping four of the past five games, Ole Miss (16-6, 5-4) is tied for sixth in the conference with Tennessee, which produced a mammoth 64-44 win over then-No. 5 Florida Saturday while playing without two key players.
Shockingly, Tennessee walloped the Gators without point guard Zakai Zeigler, and Sean Pedulla plays that role for coach Chris Beard’s Rebels.
A transfer from Virginia Tech, Pedulla almost single-handedly gave his squad a chance Saturday to win against No. 1 Auburn, but the home side could never quite produce the push it needed to beat the nation’s top team.
Ole Miss was seemingly always within striking distance, once leading by four points and never trailing by double digits until the final 92-82 margin.
The 6-foot-1 senior ran the offense and notched a season-high 29 points on 10-of-16 shooting.
Pedulla, Jaemyn Brakefield and Davon Barnes had five rebounds apiece.
“I thought Sean had an outstanding game, obviously offensively,” Beard said. “He played with courage all night long.”
Added Pedulla: “The biggest takeaway from (Saturday) is we can play with teams like this. … It’s going to take a little bit extra discipline.”
Pedulla tops the Rebels with 15.2 points per game.
Beard also praised the performance of Matthew Murrell, who netted 17 points and was questionable to play. The fifth-year senior scores at a 11.2 clip.
–Field Level Media
