No. 20 Kentucky thrashes Missouri again at Rupp Arena, winning 88-54

Missouri coach Kim Anderson playfully intimated that he had no recollection of last season’s visit to Rupp Arena two days before a return trip Wednesday to battle No. 20 Kentucky.

Anderson is going to want to forget this one, too.

The Tigers were blown out 88-54 against the Wildcats, who improved to 9-0 in the all-time series.

It’s Missouri’s third loss this season by at least 30 points — at Arizona and versus Arkansas — and one of the 20 worst losses in the program’s 110 seasons, but it’s not that margin that vexed Anderson.

“Obviously, this is a disappointing performance,” Anderson said. “Not because we got beat by 34 points … it’s disappointing because we didn’t start off better than we did. I don’t want to say we didn’t compete. We just got run over by a truck early in the game.”

It was never particularly close.

Last season at Rupp Arena, Missouri, 8-12 overall and 1-6 in the SEC, suffered the third-worst beating in program history — a 49-point thrashing, 86-37.

If there’s a silver lining, the game never got that bad, though the Tigers did dig a larger halftime hole in Wednesday’s meeting.

Junior Wes Clark briefly staked Missouri to the lead with a layup on the game’s opening possession.

Things rapidly went south from there.

Kentucky, 16-4 overall and 6-2 in conference, rattled off 20 straight points and never led by fewer than 14 points after the 16:14 mark in the first half.

Junior forward Derek Willis, who was inserted into the Wildcats’ starting lineup last week, connected on three early three-pointers.

Freshman Isaiah Briscoe, who took an official visit to Missouri in October 2014, added two jumpers. Freshman Jamal Murray chipped in an uncontested dunk off a Briscoe steal, and senior Alex Poythress hit a jumper.

Sophomore Tyler Ulis’ three-pointer provided a 20-2 lead only 4:44 into the game and prompted Missouri’s second timeout.

“I feel like I’ve said this a million times before, but we just can’t come out slow like that …,” said freshman forward Kevin Puryear, who reached double figures for the 14th time with 10 points. “They just really came out hot. They kind of leveled off, but we never really recovered from it.”

It was another hard lesson for Missouri’s still-young team, but these lessons are get tedious.

“Yeah, we are (tired of learning lessons),” said freshman guard Terrence Phillips, who scored eight with six rebounds and three assists. We’re anxious for a win. I don’t know what happened. It went 2-0 to 14-2 so quick.”

By the time the lead reached 20 points for the first time on a deep jumper by freshman Skal Labissiere midway through the first half, Kentucky was 11 of 15 from the field with three offensive rebounds.

“The beginning of the game was obviously a difference,” Anderson said. “They completely dominated it. We had no answer. We had no answer for anybody for a long time.”

A crowd of 23,933 witnessed the Wildcats’ 32nd straight home win.

“It felt like last year from the standpoint of the energy that they brought,” Anderson said. “I called the timeouts to try and get them to settle down a little bit. … You’ve got young guys. I know I use that term a lot, but they’ve never been in an environment like this.”

The Tigers, who went away from the zone defense that proved effective Saturday at Texas A&M, trailed 47-20 at halftime. That was one point worse than the 44-18 deficit at halftime of last season’s loss.

Kentucky, which led by as many as 41 in the second half, won the rebounding battle 47-28 led by Willis, who finished with a career-high 18 points and tied his career high with 12 rebounds.

“You can’t judge (Missouri by) this game,” Wildcats coach John Calipari said. “We played as well as we can play, and we did it the entire time. … That’s as good as we are.”

Ulis scored 20 with a game-high eight assists, and Briscoe added 15 points with six rebounds and six assists. Labissiere chipped in 12 points, and Murray had 11 points with nine rebounds.

Poythress added eight points and seven rebounds.

Clark led Missouri with 11 points but went only 3 of 16 from the field. Freshmen Kevin Puryear and K.J. Walton each added 10 points.

Walton and freshman Terrence Phillips each grabbed a team-high six rebounds, and sophomore D’Angelo Allen added five off the bench.

Sophomore guard Tramaine Isabell didn’t play for the second straight game.

Wednesday’s summary

No. 20 KENTUCKY 88, MISSOURI 54

Percentages: FG .316, FT .737. Three-Point Goals: 4-14, .286 (Clark 2-5, Walton 1-2, VanLeer 1-3, Allen 0-1, Gant 0-1, Wright 0-2). Blocked Shots: 2 (Gant, Allen). Turnovers: 15 (Wright 4, Phillips 4, Clark 2, Puryear, Walton, VanLeer, Allen, Gant). Steals: 4 (Phillips 2, Clark, Gant). Technical Fouls: None.

Percentages: FG .523, FT .786. Three-Point Goals: 9-20, .450 (Willis 4-5, Murray 3-8, Ulis 2-6, David 0-1). Blocked Shots: 11 (Labissiere 5, Lee 3, Willis 2, Matthews). Turnovers: 11 (Ulis 3, Poythress 2, Labissiere 2, Willis 2, Lee, Floreal). Steals: 6 (Briscoe 2, Murray 2, Labissiere, Poythress). Technical Fouls: None.

Half: Kentucky 47-20. Attendance: 23,933. Officials: Anthony Jordan, Jeff Clark, Jeffrey Anderson.

This story was originally published January 27, 2016 at 9:21 PM with the headline "No. 20 Kentucky thrashes Missouri again at Rupp Arena, winning 88-54."