Underclassmen lead Kentucky to statement win (and long-term confidence) on Senior Night

It became clear almost immediately Kentucky wasn’t proud of its performance against Auburn this past weekend — maybe it was the belt celebration on the Wildcats’ home floor that rubbed them the wrong way? “If you don’t want guys celebrating, then win the game,” Mark Pope said afterward.

If LSU had a reason to celebrate Tuesday, it was that the Tigers were hopping on that team plane and getting the hell out of Lexington. They certainly couldn’t celebrate anything that happened inside Rupp Arena as Kentucky rolled to its widest margin of victory of SEC play and fourth-largest of the season, pulling off the 95-64 win to put a bow on the home schedule.

It came on a night six seniors were honored, bursting through those paper hoops to shed a tear or two with their families and sing My Old Kentucky Home surrounded by coaches and teammates. Those seniors played well, too, led by Ansley Almonor with a season-high 15 points on 6-7 shooting and 3-4 from three in 19 minutes. The four others still able to play — Jaxson Robinson will undergo season-ending wrist surgery on Wednesday — failed to break the double-digit scoring threshold, but all earned multiple baskets while impacting the game in other ways.

Amari Williams went for nine points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block in 19 minutes, followed by Andrew Carr with eight points and six rebounds in 21 minutes, Koby Brea with six points in 29 minutes and Lamont Butler with five points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals in 26 minutes.

No one played more than 29 minutes while all ten scholarship players played at least nine with nine playing at least 13 and eight playing at least 18. It’s the perfect Mark Pope game, stretching the rotation as wide as possible while coasting to a feel-good win that saw your core pieces earn some well-deserved rest.

Ironically, it wasn’t the seniors making the biggest impact on Senior Night for the Cats. Instead, Kentucky’s two other incoming transfers with remaining eligibility led the way, Otega Oweh putting up 24 points on 9-11 shooting to go with eight rebounds, three assists and three steals in 26 minutes while Brandon Garrison went for 15 points on 6-12 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers while adding four assists, three steals, two rebounds and a block in 21 minutes.

Oweh set the tone early, going for a quick 15 in the first half while getting anywhere he wanted on the floor and scoring with zero pushback, a force driving downhill. As for Garrison, he put forth his best performance as a Wildcat, firing away with confidence but also fighting defensively and giving Williams a run for his money as a playmaker. In a night where the seniors were forced to say goodbye, you got your first real glimpse at how bright the future could be with Oweh and Garrison back in blue and white next season at Rupp Arena — and why they just might be Pope’s most important recruits of the offseason here in a couple of weeks.

Those two are the headliners, but Collin Chandler and his future aren’t far behind, the freshman breaking through for his first double-figure scoring performance at Kentucky. He came out ready to make an impact, drilling his first two 3-pointers in six first-half minutes while splashing another in the second en route to 11 points on 3-8 shooting to go with four rebounds and four assists in a career-high 18 minutes.

The seniors started the day as the story while the underclassmen were ready to kick them all but saying the future is now in Lexington.

More than anything, though, tonight was about figuring out what the immediate future looks like as Kentucky lives without Jaxson Robinson and likely Kerr Kriisa the rest of the way. Should they stay healthy, the ten guys you saw on the floor tonight are the ten that will be available at Missouri on Saturday, in Nashville next week and in the NCAA Tournament the week after — and hopefully beyond. The Wildcats looked severely shorthanded in the Auburn beatdown, unable to replace Robinson’s production or impact on either end as the team combined for five total bench points. Tonight? 43, the offense running like a well-oiled machine no matter who was in the game as the team shot 50.7 percent from the field overall, 37.5 percent from three and 100 percent at the line with 22 assists on 36 made field goals with just eight turnovers.

You just needed to see life from everyone else rather than the usual suspects leading the way yet again. We already know Oweh, Butler, Brea, Carr and Williams can step up, but what about everyone else? Can you find consistent production out of the other five where at least a couple are making an impact on any given night? You don’t need all of them, but you can’t have none of them earn their keep on the floor the way they did against the first set of Tigers on Saturday. The difference was night and day against the second set on Tuesday.

How about a third consecutive set of Tigers this upcoming Saturday as Kentucky travels to Columbia to end the regular season against Missouri? That’s going to decide when the Wildcats begin their run in the SEC Tournament, locking up a Thursday start with a win. It’s not the only path to a bye, but you can control your destiny and keep some real momentum entering postseason play if you can get it done. Tonight’s win over LSU gave you the feeling it’s at least possible, resembling a team not desperately searching for answers without its best gravity scorer and quiet leader.

The ‘must-win’ phrase is thrown around far too often, but considering the competition and the moment — a Quad 3 opponent at home celebrating Senior Night — this one fit that criteria. Anything would have worked, nothing more than finishing with more points than the Tigers of Baton Rouge. Instead, Kentucky put together its most dominant performance of SEC play, making a statement that even without Jaxson Robinson, this group can make things interesting over the next few weeks.