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Mark Pope is out of excuses. He can say whatever sentimental or philosophical thing he wants whenever Kentucky loses. I get it, he cares so much about this team and this program. That’s great. But now, the onus is on him to get this team’s identity figured out.
Wednesday night, Kentucky will take on the Missouri Tigers in its first SEC home game of the season. Missouri is not a pushover team. They’re a good team that can put up points and shoot the ball, similar to last year’s team, and are coming off a top-25 home win over Florida, who just demolished a top-25 Georgia team.
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The Tigers also have physicality, largely from big man Mark Mitchell, who the Wildcats are very familiar with.
Let’s look at the players to watch, keys to the game, and score prediction against Missouri on Wednesday night.
Players to watch vs. Missouri
1. No. 25: Mark Mitchell — 6-9, 230 lbs. Sr. Guard/Forward; Kansas City, Kan. (Duke Transfer)
Stats: 16.9 pts, 5.4 rebs, 56.5 FG%, 20% 3-PT FG, 68.4 FT%, 30.8 mpg
Mitchell has over 1,000 points in his college career, a milestone he reached in his third season last year in his first season with Missouri. He was the No. 7 transfer by CBS Sports in 2024, and he has flourished in Columbia.
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Last year, Mitchell was one of 14 players in the country to have 450 points, 150 boards, 60 assists, 30 steals, and 25 blocks. In addition, Mitchell led the team in scoring at 13.9 points per game.
So far this season, Mitchell has five games with 20+ points. However, he’s only 7-of-20 from the floor over his last two games. The key for Kentucky will be to force him into tough looks in the paint and to make him work for his points.
2. No. 35: Jacob Crews — 6-8, 215 lbs. Gr. Guard/Forward; Hilliard, Fla. (UT Martin Transfer)
Stats: 13.9 pts, 4.6 rebs, 54.3 FG%, 50.7 3-PT FG%, 81.1 FT%, 24.4 mpg
Crews is nearly tripling his scoring average from last season this season, and he is, arguably, Missouri’s best 3-point shooter. Five times this season,…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/players-watch-keys-game-kentucky-181225361.html
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Publish date : 2026-01-07 18:12:00
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