Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s feel-good win against LSU on Senior Night
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Game day: No. 19 Kentucky 95, LSU 64
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Tuesday night’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and LSU in Rupp Arena.
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Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 95-64 win over LSU on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena:
1. Kentucky got a needed feel-good win
After Saturday’s 94-78 loss to No. 1 Auburn, followed by the announcement that starting shooting guard Jaxson Robinson is out for the remainder of the season, this Kentucky basketball team needed something to feel good about. Especially on Senior Night.
Turned out LSU was just what the doctor ordered. Coach Matt McMahon’s Tigers brought a 14-15 overall record and 3-13 SEC mark into Rupp for UK’s home finale. Plus, the Tigers were without leading rebounder Corey Chest.
The Cats took advantage of the opportunity and then some. UK shot 58.8% the first half on the way to a 50-23 lead at the break, their largest halftime lead of the season. The Cats were 7-for-14 on 3-pointers over the first 20 minutes. Otega Oweh scored 15 points.
“I really thought 00 was phenomenal tonight,” McMahon said of Oweh. “I thought he set the tone on both ends of the floor.”
By night’s end, Oweh had scored 24 points, hitting nine of his 11 shots. Brandon Garrison scored 15 points. Ansley Almonor added 15. Kentucky was credited with 22 assists, compared to just eight turnovers. Lamont Butler led the way with five assists.
2. Koby Brea and Collin Chandler are an important combo
With Robinson undergoing surgery on his wrist Wednesday, the Cats need to find a way to replace the team’s second-leading scorer, one who was capable of a big game on the offensive end almost every night.
The guess here is that will be a committee approach. Koby Brea has been the starter since Robinson first went down, but freshman Collin Chandler showed Tuesday that he could be a factor, as well.
Brea scored 20 points in the loss at Alabama on Feb. 22. He was the team’s leading scorer with 21 points in the loss to Auburn. He was 4-for-10 from 3 vs. the Crimson Tide; 4-for-7 from beyond the arc vs. the top-ranked Tigers. Tuesday, Brea finished with six points, going 2-for-7 from 3-point land.
Up stepped Chandler. In 18 minutes, the 6-5 rookie from Utah scored a season-high 11 points. He was 3-for-6 from 3-point territory to growth four rebounds and four assists.
“We need to,” Chandler said when he asked if he was one of the Cats who could pick up the slack in Robinson’s absence. “We’re short on guys with Kerr (Kriisa) and Jax being out. We all need to step up. We need to grow up a little bit, so that’s been a focused for us. Nobody cares if you’re a freshman out there anymore.”
3. One more on the road
Its home season finished, the Cats finish up the regular season on Saturday at Missouri. It’s a noon game on ESPN. It’ll also be a tough one.
After not winning a single SEC game last season, the Tigers are 21-8 overall and 10-6 in league play heading into Wednesday night’s game at Oklahoma. Coach Dennis Gates’ club owns wins at Florida (83-82), at Mississippi State (88-61) and at home over Alabama (110-98).
Meanwhile, Kentucky gets another game with what will be their roster (hopefully) heading into next week’s SEC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament after that.
Pope was asked Tuesday if, considering all the injuries, he had enough numbers to feed his analytical approach.
“We have a lot of data,” Pope said, “but it’s a lot of weird data.”
With one game left in the regular season, this is the hand the new coach has been dealt. No Robinson. No Kriisa. Butler playing through a shoulder injury. Andrew Carr finally recovered from a back injury.
“We don’t have a ton of lineup flexibility right now,” Pope said.
So every game the Cats can get with what they do have is a plus.
This story was originally published March 4, 2025 at 10:25 PM.
