Kentucky Basketball: Cats Open SEC Play Routing Ole Miss

Kentucky Basketball: Cats open league play on the road in Oxford, MS, rolling past Ole Miss 99-76 behind Isaiah Briscoe’s triple-double

Dec 29, 2016; Oxford, MS, USA; k5/ and Mississippi Rebels guard Deandre Burnett (1) reach for the loose ball during the first half at The Pavilion at Ole Miss. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports

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Kentucky, behind sophomore Isaiah Briscoe’s triple-double, only the third in the history of the program, rolled over Ole Miss 99-76 in Oxford to open SEC play. Briscoe’s line read 19 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, and the honor was especially emblematic of a game in which the Cats’ leader seemingly did everything for Kentucky, including a diving, hustle play that lead to a transition bucket early in the first half to spark a run.

GAME STATS

Malik Monk was dominant as well, scoring 34 points on 11 of 16 shooting, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range, to lead all scorers. Bam Adebayo, who head coach John Calipari said would be more of a focus offensively, scored 19 points, several coming on beautiful lob feeds from Briscoe.

Derek Willis added seven points and nine rebounds in 24 minutes of play, while De’Aaron Fox added seven points and seven assists in only 23 minutes of action.

Transition points were the story of the game, propelling the Cats to 50-percent field goal shooting on the night, as Kentucky ran at will on the Rebels, proving devastating in space with Briscoe, Fox and Monk leading the break, while Adebayo continued to impress running the floor past defending post players.

Kentucky shared the ball well, recording 24 assists, against only eight turnovers, for an assist-to-turnover ration of 3.0. Despite a lull in play from the Cats during a stretch of the second half, Kentucky was never threatened since early in the first half, and looked dominant coming out of Camp Cal.

The Cats return to action Tuesday, Jan. 3, when Kentucky hosts Texas A&M in Rupp Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 9 PM EST; ESPN will broadcast the game.