Kentucky basketball is playing its way off the NCAA Tournament bubble and into having a lot of free time in March.
The Wildcats fell to Missouri 73-68 in Rupp Arena, dropping to 0-2 in SEC play and suddenly looking like a team that has to sit and sweat out their name being called on Selection Sunday. Similar to their home loss to North Carolina, the Cats could not execute in the closing minutes when they needed to the most.
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UK led 68-65 with 2:17, but didn’t score another point for the remainder of the game. It watched Mizzou take the lead off a turnover when Otega Oweh couldn’t handle a pass from Malachi Moreno. And Oweh missed a layup off a frantic scramble after a steal by Collin Chandler prevented a sure basket.
Unlike their other losses, this was a game that UK coach Mark Pope through out his best lineup from the start.
Guard Jaland Lowe and forward Jayden Quaintance each made their first start of season, which meant, for the first time this season, the Cats had their most talented five on the floor from the opening tip.
This column will be updated.
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Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: UK basketball rotation finally set by Mark Pope — for better or worse
