Kentucky had trailed at the half before -- it happened against Buffalo and Columbia earlier this season. What made Tuesday night’s upset bid by Ole Miss interesting was that the Wildcats weren’t able to shake the Rebels out of the gates in the second half. Ole Miss held a two-point halftime lead and stuck with John Calipari’s team all night, pushing the game to overtime before the Wildcats’ immense talent advantage finally came through for an 89-86 victory.
No. 1 Kentucky survives OT scare vs. Ole Miss
The Wildcats stayed undefeated in its first conference game, but it wasn’t easy.
Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
A three-pointer from the corner by Ole Miss guard LaDarius White tied the game at 75 with 1:35 left. The Rebels had a one-point lead with 37 seconds left when Andrew Harrison came away with the steal and made a free throw to tie the game. Ole Miss had a chance to win the game on the final possession of regulation, but Jarvis Summers missed and the game headed to overtime.
In overtime, Kentucky hit enough free throws and caused enough turnovers down the stretch to come away with the victory. Ole Miss had two chances to tie the game up down three in the final 20 seconds, but both shots missed.
Aaron Harrison led Kentucky with 26 points in the win. Four other Wildcats players reached double-figures, led by 13 from Devin Booker. Booker went 3-for-3 from three-point range to help Kentucky finish 11-of-20 from downtown.
At the start, this looked like it would be another blowout win for Kentucky. The Wildcats opened the game on a 12-0 run, but Ole Miss would quickly storm back behind the hot shooting of point guard Stefan Moody. Ole Miss took a two-point lead into halftime and battled Kentucky blow-for-blow in the second half to force overtime.
Moody (25 points) and Summers (23 points) led Ole Miss in the loss.
See More:
