Ninth-seeded Kentucky is seeking consistency when it faces No. 16 seed LSU in the first round of the Southeastern Conference tournament on Wednesday in Nashville, Tenn.
The Wildcats (19-12), on a two-game losing skid, trailed Florida by 17 at the half on Saturday, rallying late to get within single digits before falling 84-77. Kentucky allowed the Gators to shoot 64.3% in the first half but just 30.3% in the second.
“When we guard, we’re good. And all facets of that have to be great for us,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said.
Otega Oweh (18.2 points per game) scored in double figures in all but one league game, that being the Wildcats’ 72-63 win at South Carolina on Feb. 24. That one aside, he has scored between 23 and 29 points in five of his last six games.
Kentucky’s wild card is Collin Chandler (10.0 ppg, 43.1% on 3-pointers). He hit six triples and scored a career-high 23 points in the Wildcats’ last win — a 91-77 defeat of then-No. 25 Vanderbilt on Feb. 28 — but had five total points in 69 minutes in losses to Florida and Texas A&M since.
In its Jan. 14 meeting with LSU (15-16), Kentucky overcame an 18-point deficit in the second half when Malachi Moreno hit a buzzer-beating jumper for a 75-74 win in Baton Rouge.
The Tigers are coming off a 94-91 triple-overtime home loss to Texas A&M on Saturday that dropped them to 0-5 in league games decided by four or fewer points.
Marquel Sutton (50 minutes, 12 points), Mac Mackinnon (48, 20) and Jalen Reece (51, 17) couldn’t help LSU to overcome its 22-turnover performance.
“I was really proud of the fight and the competitive spirit of our players, and I thought they laid it on the line for what ended up being 55 minutes,” coach Matt McMahon said.
Mackinnon (15.3 ppg, four games with at least 26 points in SEC play) and Sutton (13.2) will need to carry LSU if it is to make a run in this tournament.
