Kentucky's freshmen played beyond their years at Missouri: "They were brilliant"

There were a lot of heroes in Kentucky’s 91-83 win over Missouri. Chief among them is Andrew Carr, who finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds and looked like the Andrew Carr who came through in the clutch in some of the Cats’ biggest wins this season. After only playing 11 minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, Otega Oweh erupted for 20 points in the second, taking his total to a game-high 22. Koby Brea’s threes were massive early on and Amari Williams helped the Cats withstand a late Missouri rally.

The veterans did their part in CoMo, but the freshmen also deserve credit. Collin Chandler, Trent Noah, and Travis Perry combined for nine points in the first half, stepping up when Lamont Butler and Otega Oweh got into foul trouble. Noah and Perry both hit threes during Kentucky’s 11-0 run midway through the first half, with Perry’s three giving the Cats the lead at the 9:07 mark. Chandler’s defense was key, and his three at the halftime buzzer pushed Kentucky’s lead to nine. He scored five more points in the second half to take his total to eight, just days after scoring a career-high 11 points vs. LSU.

Don't think you can overstate how important Collin Chandler could be to this team in the postseason. pic.twitter.com/vuaJGd3AUr

— Tyler Thompson (@MrsTylerKSR) March 8, 2025

“I thought Collin gave us — I thought the three freshmen were elite tonight,” Mark Pope said afterward. “There were three or four possessions where we were getting late in the shot clock, and they just stayed diligent and aggressive, like busting it, trying to get downhill to two feet in the lane, and then finding the next guy and busting to get to two feet in the lane, and then with two seconds left on the shot clock, finally making a play.

“I was getting nervous,” Pope admitted. “I was getting anxious. I’m like, ‘Guys, the shot clock’s running down!’ But they were, they were super poised. And the best thing was if they were going to make a mistake, they were going to make our mistake. I thought they were great.”

As Kentucky has battled injuries this season, Chandler, Perry, and Noah have all played more minutes. Oweh said today’s performance is proof that experience is paying off at the perfect time.

“That just shows the makeup of our team,” Oweh told Goose Givens after the game. “Even these past couple of weeks, and even the month, I would say, our roster has been kind of different. It’s been fluctuating in terms of people being injured and stuff like that. So a lot of the young guys had to grow up quick. So, that just shows that we’re much deeper now than the young guys, they’re ready to play, and they know what it takes to be out there and really contribute. Those young guys, they did a great job.”

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Pope went a step further, telling Tom Leach that the freshmen executed Kentucky’s game plan even better than the veterans at times today. In the first half, Perry had a plus/minus efficiency of +10, Noah +7, and Chandler +4.

“They were brilliant tonight,” Pope said. “Actually, they were really good. This is one of those games, in this environment, against this team that changes defense and rhythm and exerts so much pressure, it’s where you worry about freshmen, you worry about young guys, partly because of the style of play, partly just being on the road in a hostile environment, and those guys stepped in and they might have executed better than anybody else on the team, in terms of — what I was so proud of them was they were incredibly aggressive, doing what we do, and trusting that if a mistake came, it was going to be our mistake, it wasn’t going to be a mistake that was out of character.

“And they gave us a huge lift. We actually really struggled offensively until those guys got in, and they kind of helped us get a little flow. I thought they were terrific.”

With six minutes to go in the first half, Perry had a layup blocked at the rim, but he bounced back immediately, getting a steal and dishing it to Amari Williams for a dunk. Pope praised the freshman’s poise and hustle after an embarrassing moment.

“I thought we were really good to 50/50 balls. We didn’t win them all. And this Missouri team is, like, that’s their DNA. You know, the fact that we were at 10 turnovers tonight is, I mean, we came in here thinking if we can manage the turnover situation, we have a good chance to win. And our guys, we didn’t feel great. We weren’t flowing. Like, we really struggled. We were a little discombobulated in the first half and we still found a way to just stay alive protecting the ball. And part of protecting the ball is winning those 50/50 balls. And I thought those were huge energy plays.”

They’re the types of plans that could mean the difference between staying alive or going home in March.