LEXINGTON, Ky. — Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin didn’t need an elaborate postmortem report to explain the difference between his basketball team and No. 17 Kentucky after Saturday’s matinee at Rupp Arena.
“We felt as a staff going into the game the difference would be who can get interior production,” Martin said. “And they won the battle.”
Translation: The Wildcats had Nick Richards and the Tigers did not.
Other differences stood out in Kentucky’s 71-59 victory, but it was the 6-foot-11 junior’s masterful afternoon — yes, the one-and-done NBA factory produces the occasional junior — that decided the Southeastern Conference opener.