Kentucky's defense forced Ole Miss into one of its worst offensive performances of the season

Kentucky’s offensive performance against Ole Miss was far from pretty, but there won’t be many complaints about the Wildcats’ efforts on the defensive end.

Ole Miss posted one of its worst games on offense of the entire season during a 72-63 loss in Rupp Arena. 63 points marked the Rebels’ third-fewest amount of points scored through 19 games this season, and the fewest yet against an SEC opponent. The Rebels shot 32.3 percent from the field, their second-lowest mark this season, and the lowest by an SEC foe in the Mark Pope era, while dishing out just eight assists (also their second-fewest this season) compared to 10 turnovers.

Offensive rebounds were a big reason why Ole Miss was able to keep pace with Kentucky. The Rebels grabbed 17 offensive boards, resulting in 14 second-chance points. But Kentucky was able to cancel those out by snagging 14 offensive rebounds of its own for 19 second-chance points. Outside of AJ Storr (20 points; 6-14 FG) and Malik Dia (16 points; 6-15 FG), only one other Ole Miss player, Patton Pinkins, scored more than six points, and he needed 12 shots just to reach nine points.

Ole Miss isn’t exactly an offensive juggernaut this season under defensive-minded head coach Chris Beard (currently ranking 85th nationally on offense, per KenPom), but Kentucky managed to make scoring points even more difficult than usual for the Rebels. UK added seven blocks and seven steals to the box score for good measure.

“We knew it was going to be a one-on-one game defensively,” Kentucky freshman Jasper Johnson said of his team’s defensive approach. “So trying to do whatever we can, low to the ball, try to make them go one-on-five, make them see extra bodies. But it really came down to guarding your own yard. One-on-one matchup, taking it personally.”

Kentucky dared the best players on Ole Miss to beat them through isolation basketball. We saw the Rebels take plenty of contested jumpers inside the perimeter, particularly from Storr and Dia. Kentucky defended them well. Ole Miss also shot just 7-17 on layups. UK has yet to lose a game this season (8-0) when holding opponents to 66 or fewer points and/or under 40 percent shooting from the field.

Considering Kentucky’s defense had not been up to par the last few games, it’s always nice to see a bounce-back performance on that end of the floor.

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