The solution is simple – win and you are likely in.
Kentucky men’s basketball has their backs to the wall coming down the final weeks of the regular season.
The Wildcats will hit the road to Starkville, Miss., on Wednesday to face the Mississippi State Bulldogs in a “must win” road game if UK is going to have a chance of reaching the NCAA Tournament.
Kentucky, now 16-9, dropped its second straight SEC game at Georgia this past Saturday, falling 75-68.
The Wildcats got 20 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and four steals from Oscar Tshiebwe. UK also got 20 points and six rebounds from Antonio Reeves. Jacob Toppin had 12 points and eight rebounds for the cats
At Athens, Ga.
SCORE BY HALVES:
UK (16-9)……32 36 – 68
GA (15-10).…42 33 – 75
Scoring:
Kentucky (67) – Jacob Toppin 3(2) 0-0 12; Chris Livingston 3(1) 0-0 9; Oscar Tshiebwe 6 8-9 20; Antonio Reeves 4(4) 0-0 20; Cason Wallace 2 1-1 5; and Adou Thiero 0 2-3 2. Totals: 18(7) 11-13 68.
Georgia (75) – Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe 0 2-2 2; Braelen Bridges 5 2-3 12; Kario Oquendo 4(1) 10-12 21; Jusaun Holt 1 2-2 4; Justin Hill 3(1) 6-6 15; Terry Roberts 3 3-4 9; Jailyn Ingram 0(1) 0-0 3; and Jabri Abdur-Rahim 0(3) 0-0 9. Totals: 16(6) 25-29 75.
Next up: Kentucky (16-9) at Mississippi State (17-8), 8:30 pm, Feb. 15.