Wednesday Quickies: Big Win in Baton Rouge Edition

The Cats came away with a huge victory at LSU

By Zac Oakes@ZacOakes Feb 19, 2020, 6:40am EST

NCAA Basketball: Kentucky at Louisiana State

With a 50 point second half, the Kentucky Wildcats came away with a big win in Baton Rouge last night with a 79-76 win over the LSU Tigers, moving the Cats to 21-5 on the season and a league-best 11-2 in SEC play, expanding their lead in the SEC standings.

The Cats shot 50 percent from beyond the arc, which included shooting 7-8 in the second half and 17-23 from the field in the second half as well to defeat the Tigers.

The win gives Kentucky a 1.5 game lead over Auburn in the SEC standings and a 2-game lead over LSU. The Cats still have a matchup with Auburn remaining on the schedule on Feb. 29. Last night’s win puts Kentucky in the driver’s seat going forward with a chance to win the SEC Regular Season title for the first time since 2016-2017.

Not only that, but Kentucky adds another key win to its NCAA Tournament resume. As we’ve mentioned before, Kentucky’s losses to Evansville and Utah in particular will be an ugly stain come March, but winning last night’s game goes a long way toward helping shift the focus from bad losses to big wins when the committee evaluates Kentucky’s resume.

In terms of their tournament standing, Kentucky now positions themselves to be in contention for a 3-seed in the NCAA Tournament now if they can finish the season strong.

Overall, last night was a major win for the Wildcats moving forward and hopefully they can carry that momentum into their matchup against the Florida Gators at Rupp Arena on Saturday.

Tweet of the Day

For a team that's won 13 of its last 15, still feels like Kentucky is managing to fly under the national radar.
— Chris Fisher (@ChrisFisher247) February 19, 2020