Five takeaways from Kentucky's first win of SEC play

At long last, Kentucky got it done against SEC competition — third time’s the charm. Taking on Mississippi State in a late-night weekend battle in Lexington, the Wildcats got off to a horrific start, trailing by 12 points with 14:30 to go in the first half, leading to the boo birds coming out once again. That was shortly after Jaland Lowe went down with yet another right shoulder injury, one that kept him out the rest of the game. Vibes couldn’t be worse inside Rupp Arena as it appeared this group was headed toward a 0-3 start to begin conference play.

Then the game flipped upside down, Kentucky turning that double-digit deficit into a five-point lead at halftime, followed by a feel-good 24-point victory thanks to a dominant all-around effort in the final 20 minutes. It was everything this fanbase needed at the right time.

How did it all come together? KSR has the takeaways from Rupp as we enjoy a massive win for the good guys.

Will Stein was the turnaround

Wait, what? You read it correctly.

Fresh off a College Football Playoff semifinal appearance, Kentucky’s new football coach returned to Lexington on Saturday ready to sign some studs. The day started with a commitment from South Alabama DL Dominic Wiseman, followed by a massive pledge from Tennessee OT Lance Heard, plus two others in USF kicker Adam Zouagui and Mississippi State safety Cyrus Reyes.

Then he brought some very important visitors with him to Rupp Arena and helped cheer on the Cats, introduced on the jumbotron at the 9:58 mark in the first half, just a minute removed from an 11-point deficit and the crowd in a bad place — even with a quick 5-0 run by Otega Oweh to cut it to six.

He threw his arms in the air to pump up the crowd, telling Big Blue Nation to get on their feet and support this team. That led to a 70-40 run the rest of the way, Kentucky cruising to a 92-68 victory. How about that for some momentum?

Oh, and then Stein earned a commitment from Texas linebacker Elijah Barnes — a former five-star recruit, ranked No. 32 overall and No. 1 at his position in 2025 — while they were at the game together.

The new head coach has not only picked up some massive recruiting wins on the gridiron, but he also helped the Wildcats earn one on the hardwood tonight, too.

Malachi Moreno stars as KSR’s PARLOUR Pizza Player of the Game

As for the actual on-court product, he wasn’t the leading scorer, but Malachi Moreno was the team’s most valuable player and put together his best performance as a Wildcat by a mile.

Stepping up to replace the injured Jayden Quaintance in the starting lineup, the 7-foot freshman was Mr. Consistent for all 28 minutes he was on the floor. Finishing with 17 points (8-10 FG), eight rebounds, six assists and four steals overall, he had 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals in 14 first-half minutes, followed by seven points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals in 14 second-half minutes.

He had an 18-point, 10-rebound effort against Valparaiso on November 7 — but that was against Valparaiso on November 7. Kentucky needed this SEC victory, and Moreno returned to the starting lineup to fill his role to perfection on both ends. He finished, made plays, defended and ran the offense at an exceptionally high level. Just a rookie on paper, the Georgetown native played like a veteran — and pro.

That’s why he’s our PARLOUR Pizza Player of the Game!

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Otega Oweh looks like the SEC Player of the Year

Returning for his senior season as the SEC Preseason Player of the Year, Oweh took some serious heat to open the year for not being a superstar right out of the gate. He was still scoring in double figures — he’s done it every game this season — but the efficiency was up and down against high-major competition and the fire BBN fell in love with in his debut season as a Wildcat was just as inconsistent.

Maybe it was rust after missing so much time with a turf toe injury, or maybe it was a lack of chemistry with so many teammates in and out of the lineup with ailments of their own. It was probably both, if we’re being honest. No matter the reason, he went from scoring no more than 16 points in any game through December 5 to hitting the 20-point mark in five of seven outings that point forward from December 9 to January 10.

This time, it was for a season-high 22 points on an impressive 10-17 shooting and 2-4 from three while adding five assists, five steals, three rebounds and a block in 32 minutes. Whether it was a steal and slam in transition, a clutch jumper or a defensive stop, Oweh was all over the floor helping turn that double-digit deficit into a 24-point victory.

He’s transitioned from fine to good to very good to elite from the start of the season to now — an excellent sign of what’s to come with 15 SEC games to go, sitting at the midway point of the regular season. It was a slow start, but at long last, OO has arrived.

Kam Williams needs to be playing 30+ minutes

Will Stein was the face of the turnaround on the jumbotron, but I’d argue the guy who actually made it happen on the floor was the guy who seems to be doing this a lot for the Wildcats. Good things happen when Kam Williams is out there.

He checked in with the Wildcats down 11 at the 14:19 mark in the first half and never came out, going into the break up five. In that stretch, the Tulane transfer went for nine points on 4-5 shooting and 1-1 from three with two steals, one rebound and one assist.

During Kentucky’s massive second-half run, he followed it up with five points on 1-3 shooting and 2-2 at the line with four rebounds and one assist in 16 minutes, pushing his total to 30 overall. Plus/minus is a bad single-game stat, but not when it helps your narrative — and that’s certainly the case for his team-leading plus-32 finish in a 24-point victory.

For those keeping track at home, by the way, Williams is 16/31 from three in his last six games. That’s pretty darn good, folks.

Jaland Lowe goes down (and might be staying down)

Lowe was in for three minutes before suffering yet another right shoulder injury — only this time, there was no triumphant second-half return to help lead Kentucky to victory like we saw against St. John’s. This time, he ran straight to the locker room and stayed there until halftime, only to come out after intermission with his arm through his shirt, wearing a sling.

There has been speculation of a three-strikes-and-you’re-out policy for the Pittsburgh transfer, and this would apply as the third after two shoulder pop-outs in the Blue-White Game and during practice on November 13.

Will that be the case? Mark Pope said they’d know more on Sunday about his long-term status — but didn’t rule out that this could be a season-ending deal, while adding it could be a no-games-missed deal, too. Everything is totally up in the air.

“I think all options are on the table. He’ll meet with the doctors tonight, and then we’ll have some — you know, it’s always the next morning, you kind of get a little bit more data and information, just from how it responds,” Pope said. “I think we’ll start the process of making an educated decision. It could be no games, it could be a few games. It could be all the games, you know, it could be any of those things.”

This was Lowe’s ninth game played before the midway point of the season — halftime technically marked the split between the first and second half of the year, oddly enough. The NCAA grants medical redshirts to those who play no more than 30 percent of the team’s games in the first half of the season. 30 percent of 31 regular season games is nine, for those keeping score at home.

If Lowe does opt for season-ending surgery, Kentucky will have to lean heavily on Jasper Johnson — who played very well in the starting point guard’s absence, for what it’s worth — in the back half and into postseason play.