When it was announced Jayden Quaintance wasn't going to play tonight, we told you Andrija Jelavic was a guy who needed more run. And tonight, he finally got it. He was 0-2 from the floor, but like Trent Noah, he makes the extra pass, spaces the floor well, and the team just looks better with him on the court. He finished the game with a plus/minus of 14.
Mark Pope saw his team drop down by 10 again in the first half, and some boo birds came out early with the Cats down 16-6. The boos seemed to wake the team up because the Cats started to pick up the pressure immediately after. They started moving the ball, and they finally secured a much-needed SEC win.
Rupp's Runts had Rupp stay loud during the halftime show, and the team took care of the rest.
Otega Oweh scores 20 for 3rd straight game as Jaland Lowe exits with shoulder injury
On a night when Jaland Lowe would leave early with a shoulder injury, Kentucky looked shellshocked for a bit. They found a little momentum and finally broke through to take a halftime lead for what felt like the first time in forever, 44-39. Oweh had 9 points in the half, but it was Malachi Moreno who really stepped up. He had 10 points and 4 rebounds in the opening 20 minutes to keep the Cats afloat.
The second half was probably one of the best 20 minutes Kentucky has played all season. They talked, they moved the ball, and they made shots. Kentucky finished with 92 points and shot over 50 percent from the field; they looked like a completely different team than what we saw against Missouri and Alabama.
For the Bulldogs, it was their first loss in their last 7 games. They were led by Josh Hubbard, who had 20 points, as they fell to 2-1 in the SEC. Oweh led Kentucky with 22 points and 5 assists. Moreno had 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Trent Noah got in near the end of the game for his first SEC appearance, but appeared to tweak his knee. He asked to come out. Even so, the Rupp faithful will finally go home happy.
We will update the injury status of Noah and Lowe as soon as we can.