Kentucky dominates LSU: 4 things to know and postgame cheers

The final home game of the season has finally arrived as the Kentucky Wildcats welcomed the LSU Tigers to Rupp Arena. In what was an emotional pregame scene for senior night, the Cats came to play when the horn blew as they raced past the Tigers by a final score of 95-64.

Coming into tonight’s game, it was considered a must-win contest for Kentucky, especially with a shorthanded LSU team in town. Well, the first 20 minutes were about as perfect as we have seen this team play in quite a few weeks.

Whether it be on offense or defense, the Cats really made an impact in the first half in all facets of the game. Despite a few minute lulls when the bench came in, overall, you saw the potential this team could have in the postseason, taking a 50-23 lead into the locker room.

If you liked the first half, then you loved the second half. In what could have easily been a game that caused this team to check out, they kept their foot on the gas and put away LSU quickly. With some key minutes being played by some bench players that are going to be important over the next few weeks, seeing this team gain confidence overall was a good sign.

Kentucky will now begin to prepare for an important game with the Missouri Tigers on Saturday. With a win, the Cats will likely lock up a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and potentially land with the 6-seed in the SEC Tournament.

But first, let’s take a look at four things to know from tonight’s win.

Senior Night

Over the past 15 years, the BBN has not seen too many seniors go through the senior night unless it was a group of walk-ons every four seasons.

Well, the fanbase just got to celebrate six players who ended their collegiate careers in Lexington.

To kick off the new era of Kentucky basketball under Mark Pope, the staff needed to put together a full new roster. Although they faced much adversity, this team came together and made some noise with one of the best resumes in college basketball this season.

It may have only been one season, but this is a huge thank you to Lamont Butler, Amari Williams, Andrew Carr, Koby Brea, Jaxson Robinson, and Ansley Almonor. You helped bring the BBN back.

Otega Oweh Shines

Heading into tonight’s game, the fanbase had a question about who would step into the go-to scorer role without Jaxson Robinson.

After this one, it appears we have an answer.

Oweh impressed from the tip, flashing his ability to score it from all three levels early. Most importantly, though, it looked like he was hunting to get his shot, especially while getting to the rim.

With the postseason now here, the Cats will need several players to step up if they hope to make a run in Nashville and the NCAA Tournament. If Oweh can play as he did tonight, a run to at least the second weekend looks possible.

Collin Chandler Steps Up

While we knew guys like Oweh were fully capable of taking on a bigger workload to help offset the loss of Robinson, someone else from the bench needed to step up and prove he could provide valuable minutes in March.

While Travis Perry, Ansley Almonor, and even Trent Noah have done that at times, it was Collin Chandler who provided a major spark off the bench in this one. Chandler reached double figures for the first time in his career (11 points on 3/8 shooting and 3/8 on 3s) while also showing he can run the offense and even be a good defender.

If Chandler can play like this, Kentucky will be getting a much-needed assist from the bench as postseason play draws near.

Defense Impresses

Once again, this Kentucky team made some noise on defense. Now granted, LSU is not the best offensive team in the country (really not even close), but anytime you can shut down a team like they did tonight is impressive.

Mark Pope’s team has been trending in the right direction on the defensive end over the last month or so, and tonight was a big exclamation point on their progress. Especially with Robinson now out for the season, the Cats will need to potentially win a game in the SEC Tournament or NCAA Tournament with their defense. Now, they have shown they can string together quite a few stops in a fairly big sample size.

Great news as the postseason kicks off.

Go Cats!