Welcome to the A Sea of Blue open game thread for the Mississippi Rebels at Kentucky Wildcats basketball game today in Rupp Arena. Game particulars as follows, courtesy of UKAthletics.com:
| Mississippi @ Kentucky |
|---|
| Kentucky vs. Ole Miss Sat., Feb. 18 - 4:00 p.m. ET Rupp Arena Lexington, Ky. Game Notes: UK  | UM |
| Coverage |
| TV: SEC Network Radio: UK IMG  Live Video via WatchESPN Live Audio Text Updates |
The Rebels come into today's game after experiencing their low point of the season, a 102-76 thrashing by the Vanderbilt Commodores in Oxford that precipitated the throwing on the floor of objects by fans and a fight between some Ole Miss players in the corridor to the locker room. It will be interesting to see how this experienced team reacts to that distraction, along with 25,000 additional distractions today in Rupp Arena.
What Kentucky must do to win:
- Get defensive rebounds. There has been much discussion lately on why UK isn't a good defensive rebounding team, but the bottom line is, they must keep Ole Miss off the offensive glass.
- Continued good play by Marquis Teague. When Teague makes the easy play and takes care of the ball, it's almost impossible to beat Kentucky.
- Scoring from Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. MKG has been off his game lately on offense, and today, he has the kind of mismatch that should allow him to change that.
- Keep the intensity high. UK has been playing the game the right way lately, and they must continue to do that to keep this winning streak alive.
- Turn defense into offense. Ole Miss is a very generous team with the basketball, and Kentucky should get out on the break early and often if they continue that trend.
This game has a lot of moving parts caused by things swirling around the Rebels, while Kentucky's season has gone maybe too smoothly. The Wildcats must be ready, or this Ole Miss team can deliver a big bump in their nice, smooth highway.
Go, 'Cats!