Recap
Kentucky Men’s Basketball Postgame Notes
Rupp Arena At Central Bank Center | Lexington, Ky
February 8, 2025
Attendance: 20,003
Final Score: No. 14 Kentucky 80, South Carolina 57
Team Records and Series Notes
- Kentucky is now 16-7 overall, 5-5 in the Southeastern Conference. South Carolina is 10-13 overall, 0-10 in the league
- Kentucky leads the series 55-15, including 30-3 in Lexington.
- Mark Pope is 203-115 as head coach, including 16-7 at Kentucky.
- Next for Kentucky: the Wildcats stay home to play host to Tennessee on Tuesday. Game time is 7 pm and it will be televised on ESPN.
Team Notes
- Kentucky limited South Carolina to 57 points and 32.8 percent shooting, the Wildcats’ best defensive marks this season in an SEC game.
- Kentucky won the rebounding 41-35. UK is 12-3 this season when winning the rebounding.
- Kentucky won bench points 39-4 and points in the paint, 44-26.
Player Notes
- Otega Oweh had a game-high 17 points, scoring 15 of those in the final 10 minutes of the game.
- He has scored in double figures in every game this season, the only SEC player to do so and one of 13 (entering today) in Division I.
- Brandon Garrison had a season-high 15 points, his fourth double-figure game of the season. He made 7 of 8 shots, with his only miss coming on a 3-point try.
- Amari Williams had 10 points and a team-high six rebounds.
- It is his 14th double-figure scoring game of the season.
- Koby Breascored 10 points and had a career-high six assists with no turnovers. After the game, Coach Pope also credited Brea’s defensive performance.
- He made two triples. He has 17 games with multiple 3s this season and 38-straight contests overall with at least one made 3.
- After a three-game absence, Lamont Butler returned to action. He played 23 minutes and totaled eight points, three assists, one rebound and one steal.
In the First Half
- Kentucky’s starters were Lamont Butler, Jaxson Robinson, Otega Oweh, Ansley Almonorand Amari Williams. UK 1-1 with this starting lineup.
- Koby Brea was UK’s first substitution at 16:07.
- Both teams started cold, with Kentucky missing its first six shots and South Carolina missing six of its first eight.
- Trailing 4-2, UK made five shots in a row, capped by a Brea 3-pointer which gave the Wildcats their first lead at 13-11.
- Additional triples by Robinson and Brea completed an 11-0 run and made the count 19-11.
- Kentucky closed the half on a 12-1 run and took a 33-19 lead into the locker room.
- South Carolina’s 19 points and 23.5 shooting percentage are UK’s best defensive marks for one half this season.
- UK is now 13-0 this season when leading at halftime
In the Second Half
- Kentucky began the second half with the starters.
- A Butler assist to Williams and a Butler jumper jumpstarted the action, extending the run to 16-1 and giving UK a 37-19 lead.
- South Carolina rallied to close within 41-30, coaxing a UK timeout at 14:49.
- The Gamecocks got within nine, 50-41, with 10:39 left but an 11-0 run repulsed the advance.
- Kentucky led by as many as 26 points at 73-47.
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