FINAL: Kentucky bounces back with an 80-57 feel-good win over South Carolina

With Lamont Butler back in the lineup, Kentucky ran away with a win it desperately needed.

On Saturday in Rupp Arena, the No. 14 Wildcats (16-7; 5-5 SEC) cruised past the South Carolina Gamecocks (10-13; 0-10 SEC) by a final score of 80-57.

Outside of the first few minutes, it was an all-around solid performance from Mark Pope‘s squad. Brandon Garrison scored 15 points, his most this season, while Butler chipped in eight points, three assists, and two rebounds in his first game since Jan. 25. Koby Brea added 10 points, a career-high six assists, and five rebounds. Otega Oweh continued his season-long double-digit scoring streak with 17 points and four rebounds.

This might have been Kentucky’s best defensive performance against an SEC opponent yet. South Carolina put up only 19 first-half points and finished the game shooting just 32.8 percent from the floor with a 4-22 clip from deep. The Gamecocks are still winless in league play for a reason. Kentucky countered that by shooting 48 percent as a team with 19 assists to nine turnovers.

It took Kentucky several possessions to settle into this one. A handful of missed layups saw the Wildcats go nearly three full minutes before getting a field goal to fall. South Carolina held a 4-2 lead at the first media timeout as offense was tough to come by. The Gamecocks would lead by as many as three points before UK turned up the heat on both ends.

An 11-0 run for Kentucky gave them an eight-point lead midway through the opening half. South Carolina went ice-cold shooting the ball, in large part due to great defensive effort from the ‘Cats. The Gamecocks failed to score in the final five minutes of the first half as Kentucky ran out to a 33-19 advantage at the intermission.

Kentucky was getting a little bit of everything from the nine guys who saw action in the first half. Andrew Carr led the way with nine points while Brea was up to six. UK shot 40.6 percent from the field through 20 minutes but held South Carolina to just 23.5 percent shooting, including a 1-11 mark from deep. Collin Murray-Boyles was doing all the work for USC with a game-leading 10 points.

Out of the break, Kentucky quickly went ahead by 18 points and looked to be on the verge of a blowout. But South Carolina refused to go away, hitting timely shots to stay within striking distance. Jaxson Robinson‘s wrist injury, which nearly kept him out of this contest, was clearly beginning to bother him too, although he would continue to check in off the bench. Some lengthy reviews at the monitor didn’t help the flow of the game either.

But the Wildcats never let go of its momentum, taking a 14-point lead into the second-to-last media timeout as South Carolina went on a four-minute scoring drought. Garrison was on his own personal heater with nine second-half points to this point, including a made three-pointer (which he was given a technical foul for due to his celebration). UK’s lead eventually grew to 20 points.

At one point down the stretch, Kentucky rattled off a 19-4 run. Kentucky’s advantage ballooned to as high as 26 points. Wins are tough to come by the SEC — the ‘Cats will take this one every day of the week.