Kentucky overwhelms Mississippi State to earn first SEC win
Otega Oweh recorded 22 points, five assists and a season-best five steals to lead Kentucky to a convincing 92-68 victory over Mississippi State on Saturday night in Southeastern Conference play in Lexington, Ky.
Malachi Moreno added 17 points, eight rebounds, six assists and matched his season high with four steals for the Wildcats (10-6, 1-2 SEC), who ended a two-game slide. Denzel Aberdeen scored 16 points and Kam Williams added 14 for Kentucky.
Josh Hubbard had 20 points and five assists for the Bulldogs (10-6, 2-1), who had a six-game winning streak halted. Achor Achor added 13 points and 11 rebounds and Jayden Epps also scored 13 points for Mississippi State.
The Bulldogs led by as many as 12 in the first nine minutes before Kentucky controlled the rest of the game.
The Wildcats shot 55.2% from the field, including 9 of 22 from 3-point range (40.9%). Kentucky had a 19-6 edge in fast-break points.
Mississippi State made 48.2% of its shots and was just 3 of 20 (15%) from behind the arc.
Kentucky led by five at the break but elevated the lead to 67-58 on Brandon Garrison's dunk with 10:24 left in the game.
The margin was seven two minutes later before Oweh stole the ball and drove in for a ferocious dunk. On the Wildcats' next possession, Oweh swished a straightaway 3-pointer to give Kentucky a 74-62 lead with 7:35 remaining.
A short time later, the Wildcats rattled off 10 straight points -- including four apiece from Oweh and Moreno -- to push it to 87-65 with 2:52 left in the contest.
The lead topped out at 24 as Kentucky closed it out.
Moreno had 10 first-half points as Kentucky held a 44-39 halftime lead. Hubbard had 13 points in the half for the Bulldogs.
Mississippi State shot out to an 18-6 lead just 5 1/2 minutes into the contest and still led by 11 nine minutes into the game before the Wildcats came to life.
Kentucky ripped off 12 straight points with Jasper Johnson draining a 3-pointer to cap it and give the Wildcats a 29-28 edge with 8:13 remaining in the first half.