Kentucky manhandled on the road 89-75 against Missouri in SEC opener

The Big Blue Nation will want to move on from this result as quickly as possible.

On Wednesday night, Kentucky men’s basketball (8-4) was manhandled by the Missouri Tigers (12-1) on the road, falling by a final score of 89-75 in the Wildcats’ 2022-23 Southeastern Conference opener. UK trailed by 12 at the halftime break and went down by as many as 21 (the team’s largest deficit of the season) in the second half, only managing to trim the Tigers’ lead to single digits for one possession.

Cason Wallace and Oscar Tshiebwe were the most productive pieces for the ‘Cats at Mizzou Arena. Wallace finished with 19 points on five made 3-pointers while Tshiebwe posted an impressive 23 points and 19 rebounds. Sahvir Wheeler chipped in 12 points and eight assists before fouling out down the stretch.

Kentucky shot just 8-23 (34.8 percent) from beyond the arc and 15-24 (63 percent) from the free throw line while getting outscored in bench points 33-13.

A made 3-pointer from Wallace in the opening 90 seconds gave UK an early 3-2 lead, but that was the last time all night the ‘Cats would be in front. Missouri immediately responded with a 13-2 run to make it 15-5 in favor of the Tigers shortly after the first media timeout.

From there, Kentucky struggled to wiggle its way back into the game. Another Wallace triple cut the Mizzou lead to just four midway through the opening half, but the Tigers bounced right back out to a double-digit advantage. At the break, Missouri led 42-30 as Wallace (10 points) and Tshiebwe (nine points, 12 rebounds) kept UK from being completely run out of the gym.

The second half was just as uninspiring for the ‘Cats, though. Mizzou scored the first five points after the intermission and put the contest on the verge of a blowout. However, Kentucky would finally punch back, making it a nine-point game at the 12:31 mark.

But that would be the Wildcats’ last chance. Missouri scored eight straight out of a timeout to extend the lead back to 17, effectively ending any chance of a Kentucky comeback. The Tigers went on to win by 14 points.

CJ Fredrick played just four minutes for the ‘Cats as he was ruled out at halftime after suffering an injury to a finger on his right hand early on. Freshman guard Adou Thiero, who had played just 38 total minutes heading into this matchup, was interested in the second-half rotation for head coach John Calipari, adding five points and three rebounds in his 17 minutes.

Next up for Kentucky is an in-state rivalry showdown against the Louisville Cardinals (2-11), which is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 31 at noon EST inside of Rupp Arena.