By Peggy Gilligan
Kentucky Tops Ole Miss With Six Late Free Throws 67-62
Kentucky was able to overcome a terrible shooting day to win against the Ole Miss Rebels on Saturday before a crowd of 21,417 in Rupp Arena. The win combined with the losses by Auburn and LSU leaves the Wildcatsatop the SEC standings heading into a showdown on Tuesday at Baton Rouge against the Tigers of LSU.
The Cats in the first half shot only 30% from the field and were able to only make one three pointer after trying thirteen were still in the game going into the locker room at half down by only two points. The only brite spots in the first were that Kentucky out rebounded Ole Miss 24-17 and held leading scorer from Ole Miss Breein Tyree to only 10 points.
The second half saw some improvement for the Wildcats in that they shot 48% from the field and were 13 of 14 from the free throw line. The ability of Quickley, Richards, and Brooks to make free throws down the stretch helped clinch the victory for Kentucky.
The victory improves the Wildcats record to 20-5 overall and gives Coach Calipari his 26th straight season with 20 or more wins. The win extended the win streak over Ole Miss in Rupp Arena to ten games in Rupp Arena, the Rebels last won in Rupp in 1998.
Coach Calipari was very complimentary of the crowd today saying they were great and helped the Cats fight and have the will to win. Although he stated he was exhausted he stayed after the radio show to sign all the balls for the fans who stayed after the game.
