Keion Brooks Jr. quickly established the spark Kentucky wanted against Missouri before supplying another jump start later to seal another convincing victory.
Brooks scored 17 points, TyTy Washington Jr. added 14 and No. 18 Kentucky overcame an uneven second half to roll past Missouri 83-56 on Wednesday night in the Southeastern Conference opener for both schools.
The Wildcats (10-2) trailed just once early on against a Tigers squad playing without head coach Cuonzo Martin, who missed the contest with COVID. But Kentucky had to offset 38% percent shooting in the second half and some ragged stretches to pull away from Missouri (6-7) after consecutive blowouts over North Carolina and Western Kentucky.
Brooks provided the needed cushion with several key baskets after the break, including a couple of dunks during the Wildcats’ 7-2 spurt for a 59-45 lead with 9:23 remaining. Kentucky soon followed with 10 straight points to make it 73-52 and eventually improve to 14-2 against Mizzou and 8-0 in Lexington.
