The Kentucky Wildcats the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday night in Starkville by a score of 95-90.

The Cats got off to a solid start, but it was a back-and-forth affair from the start. Kentucky scored at will, but, per usual, they couldn’t get a stop. At the half, the Cats led 49-44.

After the break, Kentucky exploded. The Cats extended the lead to as many as 14, but it was short-lived. The Cats were unable to hold onto the lead, and before you knew it, the Bulldogs led.

Ansley Almonor, however, provided the unlikely spark that was needed. Almonor, who’s been an afterthought for most of this season, was arguably the most important player in this one.

Kentucky moves to 13-3 on the season following this massive road victory. The inconsistency is a bit frustrating, but you can’t say it isn’t fun.

Next up, the Cats will take on the Texas A&M Aggies on Tuesday night in Lexington.

Robinson comes to life

Jaxson Robinson seems to disappear in the biggest games/moments. He tends to be a no-show when it matters more often than not.

That wasn’t the case in this game. Robinson led Kentucky from the start, and he didn’t slow down. He was the Cats’ best player from start to finish. And the timing couldn’t be more impeccable following the call of much of BBN to start Koby Brea over Robinson.

To be fair, at this point, Brea has been better, but Robinson has quieted the noise for now after having his signature performance.

3-point shooting

Mark Pope’s teams have been historically known for their three-point shooting. The same was expected this season, and it happened for the first 10 or so games, but it’s been ugly since.

The Cats reached a point of looking more like a bad shooting team than a good one. For the better part of six weeks, Kentucky’s ability to effectively shoot the three has come into question.

Kentucky answered the doubters in this one. The shooting was incredible. Multiple guys contributed, although Robinson might have skewed the results a bit. Regardless, it was nice to see Kentucky shoot, and shoot well.

Road Woes End

Kentucky entered the game with no true road wins, and that’s no history.

Between the neutral-court beatdown to Ohio State and the manhandling by Georgia, it was fair to wonder if Kentucky was going to get a signature road win in what’s one of the toughest SEC schedules ever, maybe even the hardest in league history.

More important, Kentucky won, because those aren’t going to come easy at any point in SEC play. That’s especially true next week when Kentucky hosts what could be top-15 Texas A&M and Alabama teams.

This was also some much-needed proof that Mark Pope’s offense can have an epic performance away from Rupp Arena. Their previous best game away from Rupp was scoring 90 at Gonzaga, but that game went into overtime.

Savor this one, BBN. This was a great win!

Go CATS!!