Kentucky vs. Missouri (SEC Tournament) – UK Athletics

After topping LSU 87-82 on Wednesday, Kentucky advanced to the second round of the 2026 Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament, where the Cats will face Missouri on Thursday (12:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network).

Otega Oweh led the Cats with 23 points in Wednesday’s win, while Brandon Garrison had 17 points for UK. Denzel Aberdeen added 16 points for Kentucky.

Missouri, the tournament’s eighth seed, did not play on Wednesday. The Tigers are 20-11 on the season and are led by senior forward Mark Mitchell, who averages 17.9 points per game.

Kentucky and Missouri met one time during the regular season, with the Tigers claiming a 73-68 win at Rupp Arena on January 7. Oweh led UK with 20 points in that game, but no other Wildcat scored in double figures. Mitchell paced Missouri with 21 points, while Jayden Stone had 20.

UK led the Jan. 7 meeting 66-58 with 4:37 remaining. That’s when Missouri mounted its late-game 15-2 run to seal the victory. The Tigers had 40 points in the paint in that game, compared to 28 for the Cats.

Following Wednesday’s win over LSU, Kentucky head coach Mark Pope talked about what Missouri does well.

“They’re really good. They’ve been playing great basketball,” Pope said. “They have tremendous size on their front line. They’re so physical and so big and so skilled actually, can hurt you in a lot of different ways.”

Pope remembers the January game against Missouri and what they did to pull out the win.

“They made shots against us when we played them at home,” Pope said. “Made some plays late that really hurt us. They’re a good team. Really well-coached. Coach (Dennis Gates) does a great job. It will be a great challenge, just like every game in this tournament is going to be a challenge.”

That challenge is the next step in what Pope and the Cats hope will be a run in this week’s SEC Tournament.