Kentucky Wildcats vs Missouri Tigers Box Score on Dec 28, 2022

Kobe Brown scored 30 points as Missouri upset No. 19 Kentucky 89-75 Wednesday night in Columbia, Mo., in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.

Brown, who earned SEC Player of the Week honors after scoring 31 points in a victory over then-No. 16 Illinois on Dec. 22, also had six rebounds against the Wildcats.

D'Moi Hodge scored 15 points and Sean East II and DeAndre Gholston added 12 each as the Tigers (12-1, 1-0 SEC) won for just the third time in 17 games against Kentucky.

Oscar Tshiebwe scored 23 points and grabbed 19 rebounds for the Wildcats (8-4, 0-1). Cason Wallace scored 19 points and Sahvir Wheeler had 12 points and eight assists.

Kentucky led only once in the game, 3-2. The Wildcats missed 15 of 23 shots from 3-point range, and their bench was outscored 33-13.

Missouri pushed the tempo from the opening tip and broke out to a 15-5 lead with Brown and Tre Gomillion scoring five points each.

The Wildcats missed 9 of 10 shots from 3-point range to start the game, but Tshiebwe kept them in the game with his offensive rebounding.

Kentucky cut the Missouri lead to 17-13 before East scored seven unanswered points for the Tigers.

Hodge hit a 3-pointer to extend Missouri's lead to 27-14 with 6:39 left in the first half. Kentucky responded with a 10-5 run, capped by Tshiebwe's three-point play, to trim the deficit to 32-24. But the Tigers pushed the lead to 42-30 at the half with Brown and East knocking down 3-point jumpers.

Brown scored the first five points of the second half as Missouri built a 47-30 advantage.

Adou Thiero came off the Kentucky bench to hit a 3-pointer and trigger a 10-2 surge that cut the Wildcats' deficit to 54-44. Missouri answered with a 10-3 run as Hodge and Brown hit 3-pointers to re-establish control for good.

The Tigers kept the Wildcats out of sync with an effective zone defense and led by as many as 21 points late in the second half.

--Field Level Media