DeMarcus Cousins finished with 18 points, 13
rebounds and four blocked shots, as fourth-ranked Kentucky earned an 85-75 win
over 25th-ranked Ole Miss in an SEC matchup at Rupp Arena.
John Wall contributed 17 points and seven assists, while Darnell Dodson made
4-of-5 from three-point territory and finished with 14 points for Kentucky
(21-1, 6-1 SEC), which has won two straight since falling to conference foe
South Carolina on January 26. Patrick Patterson added 12 points and six boards
in the win.
"I think we did well," Kentucky head coach John Calipari said about the team's
fast start. "I was worried about this game because I do not think our team
understood that Ole Miss is a good team. They had Tennessee, Arkansas and
Mississippi State beat and they lost all three games in the last minutes or
over time. If you look at games like that Ole Miss is easily 6-1 or 7-0 in the
SEC. I was really worried but I am happy how we played. I am proud of my
team."
Terrico White led all scorers with 19 points to go along with seven rebounds
for Ole Miss (16-6, 4-4), which dropped an 80-73 decision to Arkansas on
Sunday, a loss that snapped a three-game winning streak. Chris Warren and
Eniel Polynice ended with 15 and 14 points, respectively, in defeat.
"It was very difficult," Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy said. "Coming in, we
wanted to mix and match. We knew our only chance was to try to confuse them
and slow them down a little bit. I don't know how successful we were with
that. DeMarcus Cousins is playing as well as any post player in college
basketball. I don't think there is any doubt about that. He has the whole
package. He has the size, the strength, speed, a great touch and a good feel.
He's a handful."
Wall and Cousins set the tone for Kentucky from the opening tip and following
a dunk from Perry Stevenson, the Wildcats built a 27-9 lead only nine minutes
into the contest.
UK maintained a double-digit advantage over the next several minutes, but Ole
Miss was able to mount a 10-2 run and close to within five, 38-33, with 3 1/2
minutes to play in the half after a Trevor Gaskins layup.
The Wildcats finished out the opening 20 minutes on a high note with six
straight points to go up 46-37 at the break.
In the second half, UK quickly went back up by double-figures, 56-41, as
Dodson hit a pair of three-pointers in the first two minutes.
However, White finished off a 16-4 Rebels run to make it a three-point game,
60-57, a short time later, but the Wildcats proved to be too much down the
rest of the way.
Kentucky responded by scoring the next eight points as Darius Miller and
Patterson each connected from beyond the arc for a 68-57 advantage with nearly
11 minutes left and Ole Miss never threatened the outcome in the remaining
time.
Game Notes
Kentucky now owns a commanding 97-13 series edge over Ole Miss...UK shot 50
percent from the field and made 9-of-19 from three-point territory...Ole Miss
made 43.9 percent of its shots and 8-of-20 from beyond the arc.
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