No. 9 Kentucky is looking to continue its impressive start to the season on Tuesday, when Atlantic Sun Conference foe Lipscomb travels to Lexington, Ky.
Kentucky (3-0) is coming off Tuesday’s 77-72 win over then-sixth-ranked Duke, their first signature win of the Mark Pope era. Andrew Carr led the way for Kentucky with a season-high 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor. Otega Oweh added 15 points, which included some late-game heroics as Oweh sealed the outcome with a timely steal and free throws.
Oweh isn’t shying away from his moment with college basketball’s winningest blue blood. The 6-foot-4 junior guard transferred to Kentucky after spending the previous two seasons at Oklahoma.
“I’ll just say, wearing Kentucky on your chest, you just have to carry yourself a certain way,” he said. “You know that you’re not just playing for yourself, you’re playing for a whole nation, you’re playing for your brothers.
“It’s a dream to play for Kentucky,” Oweh continued, “and the fact that I’m here, and the fact that (Carr) is here, it just makes everyone want to play harder.”
Lipscomb enters at 2-3, with wins over Duquesne and Wofford. The Bisons lost their most recent outing on Sunday to Western Kentucky, falling 66-61 on the road after being outscored by six in the second half.
“We’ll be better for going through this stretch that we’re in,” Lipscomb coach Lennie Acuff said. “Then we go to Rupp Arena on Tuesday night, and you don’t have to say a lot about that game, you just know that you’re going to play against Kentucky, who just beat Duke.
“I feel like we’re going to be better for what’s been behind us, and we’re looking forward to what’s ahead. We’re going to live through the windshield.”
The Bisons faced former Kentucky coach John Calipari and Arkansas on Nov. 6, falling 76-60. Lipscomb’s other loss came in an 80-79 heartbreaker to Belmont on Nov. 12, as they led by 12 points with 3:56 remaining and blew an eight-point lead in the final 2:08. Belmont closed the game on a 19-6 run.
Oweh and Koby Brea are each averaging 15.3 points per game to lead Kentucky in scoring. Brea scored 18 points in Kentucky’s season-opening win over Wright State and 20 points in its second game against Bucknell. Brea is shooting 70.8 percent from the field on the season, sixth among all Division I guards.
Oweh has reached double figures in all three games, including a team-high 21 points in the opener. Amari Williams is averaging an identical double-double at 11.7 points and 11.7 rebounds per game. Williams grabbed a season-high 14 rebounds in the win over Bucknell.
Lipscomb is led by Jacob Ognacevic, who made All-ASUN first team in 2022-23 before missing all of last season due to injury. Ognacevic is averaging 20.6 points and eight rebounds per game to start the season, including a 30-point outing in the season-opening win over Duquesne.
