Amari Williams capped impressive performance vs. Missouri with 1,000th career rebound

Amari Williams put together another impressive performance in Kentucky’s 91-83 road win over Missouri in Saturday’s regular season finale. The seven-footer finished his afternoon with 14 points, eight rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal in 29 minutes without coughing up a single turnover. He was just 2-4 from the field, but lived at the free throw line by going 10-12 — a season-high for makes.

Williams made some history in the process, too. With his seventh rebound in the second half, he reached 1,000 for his college career. Through 136 games played across his five-year run in college, the Drexel transfer is now up to 1,422 points and 1,001 rebounds.

It was business as usual for Williams, who has become Kentucky’s steadiest and most consistent player over the last several weeks. His +13 in the plus/minus led the Wildcats. His impact was felt greatly when he watched from the sidelines for a key stretch in the second half. When he checked out with 12:25 left in regulation, Kentucky was ahead 57-44. But by the time he checked back in with 6:55 to go, UK was only holding onto a 66-59 advantage.

Williams was spotted riding the exercise bike during this stretch, but did not appear to be dealing with a serious injury before ultimately returning. He hit a handful of big free throws down the stretch and grabbed a big defensive rebound that led to a Koby Brea dunk, effectively putting the game away with Kentucky up by 10 and less than 90 seconds on the clock.

Another key takeaway from Williams’ performance was the free-throw shooting, which does not appear to be a major liability for him anymore. With his 10-12 mark Saturday, he’s now 34-46 (73.9 percent) from the stripe over his last six games — and that includes a 7-13 clip in the loss to Auburn. He was just 61.8 percent from the line in the previous 25 games. It also helps that opposing teams still don’t realize his shooting form is slow, which often leads to lane violations and thus an extra free throw. Williams was gifted an extra freebie against Missouri because of this, which he made.

With the regular season now in the books and the postseason less than a week away, Williams is playing his best basketball at the perfect time.