Antonio Reeves gives depleted Kentucky basketball much-needed boost in win vs Ole Miss

OXFORD, Miss. — Normally for a team in Kentucky’s position — fighting tooth and nail to earn an NCAA tournament bid as it lives life on the bubble — a win, any win, is welcomed.

Kentucky got what it needed Tuesday, topping Ole Miss on the road 75-66 in a game that was much closer for most of its 40 minutes.

And it has Antonio Reeves to thank for it. The senior guard poured in a game-high 27 points when the Wildcats (15-7, 6-3 SEC) were in dire need of a spark.

Kentucky was down key playmakers Cason Wallace (for the entire game because of a leg injury) and Sahvir Wheeler (for the final 3:35 of the first half after he fell to the floor with an undisclosed injury of his own). Fellow senior guard CJ Fredrick’s offensive struggles continued (0 for 2 from the field, 0 for 1 from 3-point territory).

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There were some bright spots beyond Reeves. Star forward Oscar Tshiebwe managed another double-double, scoring 14 points (4 of 10 shooting) and grabbing 11 rebounds. Senior Jacob Toppin scored 12 of his 18 points after intermission.

But with Wallace in street clothes and a hobbled Wheeler (four points) unable to provide much of a scoring punch (he did dish out nine assists), Reeves was left the only guard remaining capable of providing points. He said he took it upon himself to lift the team to a win.

And for large portions of Tuesday’s game, Reeves was UK’s only consistent option offensively. He said he knew a superlative performance was in the offing as soon as he knocked down his first shot: a triple with 12:53 remaining in the first half. He connected on another 3 less than a minute later.

In sum, Reeves (8 of 12 from the field) made 6 of 7 from 3-point territory, accounting for all of the Wildcats' made shots from distance. When he wasn't draining 3s, Reeves was slicing into the lane. He added three rebounds and a pair of steals.

"When you're playing basketball and one guy gets it going, then you play him and you go through him," Kentucky coach John Calipari said. "That's why we kept going to Antonio."

Especially in Tuesday's second half.

At one juncture, Reeves had scored 16 points after halftime — the rest of the Wildcats had combined for 15.

Shouldering that much responsibility isn’t new to him; he arrived at Kentucky prior in the summer with a reputation as a bucket-getter. He averaged 20.1 points per game during the 2021-22 campaign at Illinois State, becoming the first Redbird to reach that figure in more than two decades. Reeves finished with 10 or more points in 31 of the Redbirds’ 33 games.

His 27-point outburst Tuesday — the most he's had as a Wildcat — had Reeves reminiscing on the past.

"It just felt like those Illinois State days," he said. "I felt comfortable out there, just like the old me."

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Early in Reeves' UK career, points came as easily as they once did at Illinois State.

He had 22 in the opener against Howard, then followed up with 18 more versus Duquesne.

But then he scored 11 or fewer in the next three games before bouncing back with 20 (against North Florida) and 18 (versus Bellarmine) in consecutive contests in November.

December brought new struggles. His high-water mark was 11 against Michigan on Dec. 4; he didn’t score more than that until he had 20 points in Kentucky’s blowout loss at Alabama on Jan. 7.

Since then, Reeves has settled into a groove. The fewest he’s scored in Kentucky’s past seven games is 10, which came Saturday against Kansas, the defending national champion.

Spurring the Wildcats to their fifth straight conference victory, and giving the Rebels (9-13, 1-8) their 10th loss in 11 games, left Reeves glowing afterward.

"Man, it feels really good," he said. "My teammates got me involved. Everything was going in for me."

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Freshman Chris Livingston took a macro view of the situation, less focused on what Reeves' effort meant now and more what it represented for Kentucky's future.

"It's really important for us to have a guy we can go to toward the end of games, down the stretch when we're not making shots," Livingston said, "whether it's hitting floaters or big 3s — big-time 3s, back to back to back."

Reeves was content to live in the present.

"You've just got to continue playing," he said, "and (I've) just got to continue being me out there."

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @RyanABlack.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky vs Ole Miss basketball: Antonio Reeves lifts Cats to SEC win