Ole Miss Tackles a Win over the WIldcats

One day. Exactly one day the Wildcats were ranked. That will likely be all for the Cats as the unthinkable occurred Tuesday night.

After receiving national respect(a #24 AP Poll ranking) and being deemed the top team of the SEC, the unthinkable happened in Oxford—Kentucky fell to the Rebels 85-80, snapping a nine game win streak over Mississippi, and ending an unbeaten mark in conference play.

When asked Monday of how much longer the Wildcats would last as an unbeaten SEC school, Coach Billy Gillespie said, “It’s not going to last much longer if we continue to do that(make turnovers).”

And their win streak ended up not lasting. Kentucky struggled to get into a groove.

Mississippi stopped scoring standout Jodie Meeks by holding him to six points in the first half and forcing him to make bad decisions which forced Meeks to go 0 for 6 from the field.

With Meeks’ early struggles, the Wildcats were able to hold their own early. The Cats entered halftime with a narrow 39-37 lead.

The Cats were also limiting turnovers. After two straight nights of having more than 20 turnovers, Kentucky took care of the ball only turning the ball over 10 times.

However, the Wildcats struggled were not linked to an inability to hold onto the ball but the ability to keep up with an Ole Miss team effort.

Four of the starting five for the rebels scored in double digits. With such an output of scoring, the Cats were unable to contend with, basically, two players—Patrick Patterson and Jodie Meeks.

Meeks and Patterson ended the game combining 45 of the Wildcats 80 points. With a lack of production from the rest of the team, Kentucky could not make it and ended up losing their first in conference play.

With the loss, Kentucky, like every other team in the SEC has at least one loss. And now, there is a three way heaping tie in the East division with Florida, Tennessee, and Kentucky all with one loss.

Kentucky’s next opponent will not be an easy bounce back game. The Cats will return to Rupp to take on an upstart South Carolina Gamecock team that has their eyes set on shaking up the SEC East landscape. They have beaten the Gators and sit in second place with two conference losses.