Maxwell Smith Shines In First Start

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Maxwell Smith threw for 283 yards and the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter as Kentucky beat Mississippi 30-13 on Saturday for the Wildcats' first Southeastern Conference win in nearly a year.

Smith, a freshman, was forced to start because of an injury Morgan Newtonsustained last Saturday against Mississippi State, and he was steady in his first career start. He had 128 yards passing at halftime, but Kentucky couldn't quite reach the red zone.

The Wildcats had four drives in the first half that ended between the Ole Miss 30-yard line and the 50; one ended in a 48-yard field goal, one ended in a missed field goal and two ended in punts.

But Kentucky offensive coordinator Randy Sanders opened up the playbook in the second half to the deep passes. Smith's 38-yard touchdown pass to La'Rod King gave the Wildcats (4-5, 1-4) a 16-13 lead with 12:22 left.

That pass marked the latest Kentucky had held a lead in any SEC game since a 38-20 win over Vanderbilt on Nov. 13, 2010.

After forcing the Rebels (2-7, 0-6) into two punts, Smith put the game out of reach with a 56-yard pass to King that set up an 8-yard touchdown throw to Gene McCaskill.

Ole Miss held an early 6-0 lead after getting into the red zone twice but coming away with field goals both times. The Rebels finished with 195 rushing yards but were consistently pinned back in their own territory by Kentucky punter Ryan Tydlacka.

CoShik Williams had 111 yards rushing and two touchdowns for the Wildcats.

UK Downs Ole Miss To Advance To Semifinals

Doron Lamb had 19
points in Kentucky's
win over Ole Miss in
the SEC Semifinals,
Friday.

By:  Cooper Ledford


The Kentucky Wildcats were playing their first game in the SEC Tournament, their opponent: Ole Miss.  The Rebels beat the Wildcats earlier this season in Mississippi, but this time, it was in Atlanta, or as some like to call it, Catlanta, as it is their home-away-from-home.  Kentucky was able to beat Ole Miss, 75-66, and advance to the SEC Semifinals where they will play Alabama tomorrow at 1 PM ET on....ABC?  That's odd, ABC usually does not have college games.  


Back to the game, Kentucky's leading scorer was Doron Lamb, who had 19 points.  Lamb also played very well on defense, he was a key factor in UK's game today.  Brandon Knight added 17 points, Darius Miller 15, and Josh Harrellson, get this, had 13 points, pretty good game for the Missouri native.


Chris Warren lead the way for the Rebs as he had 20 points.


The Wildcats out-rebounded Mississippi 40-32, so they were able to capitalize on the missed shots.  


Once again, the Wildcats will take on 'Bama tomorrow at 1 PM ET and will be televised on ABC.