Kentucky grinds out 90-77 win over Missouri

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky basketball's conference home opener against Missouri was a grind of a game, but the No. 6 Wildcats did the most important thing Tuesday night.

Win.

The Cats defeated Missouri, 90-77 inside Rupp Arena, to open league play 2-0 for the first time since the 2020-21 season. This year's Cats are now 12-2 overall.

Kentucky's offense struggled to find its flow for a decent chunk of the game, and the defense allowed the Tigers to hang around just close enough to keep the Cats on their toes.

Rob Dillingham led the way for the Cats, despite flirting with foul trouble for much of the game. He finished with a game-high 23 points on 6-7 shooting (3-3 from beyond-the-arc) in 19 minutes.

DJ Wagner also had an efficient night offensively, with 16 points.

Tre Mitchell contributed another double-double; this time, to the tune of 20 points and 14 rebounds. He was also a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line and added three assists and two blocks in a full, 40 minutes of play.

Aaron Bradshaw added 10 points and six boards in 30 minutes, and Antonio Reeves had 14 points.

Reed Sheppard had three points, off a three-pointer early in the game, but he added four assists, two steals and zero turnovers.

James Crisp/AP

Tre Mitchell was quick to get the scoring started for the Wildcats.

The senior was up to eight points within the first three minutes of play, including back-to-back three-point baskets within the opening minute.

As a team, the Wildcats sank five of their first seven 3-point attempts, building a solid cushion in the process.

After building a 14-point lead, Kentucky took its foot off the gas, and Missouri took advantage in the form of a 10-0 run. While the Wildcats struggled on offense, the Tigers found the bottom of the net on four straight buckets. Bradshaw finally ended Kentucky's drought, but the team as a whole wasn't able to garner enough rhythm to rattle off its own run.

The Cats went 3-17 from the floor to end the half, making only one of their final seven field goal attempts. The team's blistering start helped soften the blow statistically; Kentucky was shooting a 44/33/92 percent split throughout the first 20 minutes of play.

Wagner and Dillingham paced the Cats with 11 points apiece, while Mitchell added just two more points after his early, 8-point frenzy to finish the first half with ten points.

Missouri's Sean East II and Noah Carter were leading all scorers with 15 and 13 points, respectively.

Kentucky led 47-42 after trailing for less than a minute of game time in the first half, and yet it felt like the Tigers were taking all of the momentum into the locker room with them.

Enter: Justin Edwards.

The freshman struggled in the first half, but he brought the edge to start the second. Edwards scored through traffic for two points, euro-stepped his way to the basket for two more, then responded with a steal after missing his next shot attempt.

Mitchell was a consistent weapon for the Cats throughout the night, while Wagner and Dillingham took over midway through the second half to spark Kentucky's offense.

Still, the Tigers lingered.

Kentucky's lead fluctuated from about the eight-to-12 point range for the duration of the game, but the Tigers offense stalled as time dwindled. Missouri made only one of its final 15 field goal attempts, and the Cats were ultimately able to hang on for the 13-point victory.

The Wildcats will travel to College Station, Texas for their next game, with tipoff between Kentucky and Texas A&M set for Saturday at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN.