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Maxey didn’t Let Mistakes Keep him from Making Game Winning Plays

Kentucky freshman Tyrese Maxey is growing up and two of the plays he made in the Wildcats 67-62 victory vs. Ole Miss were because he didn’t drop his head after a mistake.

With the Rebels leading 60-59 with less than two minutes to play in the game, Maxey badly missed a wide-open three-pointer that banked off the opposite side of the glass. Thanks to an amazing effort by sophomore E.J. Montgomery, who found Maxey cutting to the basket, Maxey was able to finish through contact to give the Wildcats a 61-60 lead with 1:34 remaining in the game.

John Calipari talked about that play after the game and how two weeks ago the freshman would’ve dropped his head after the missed shot and not been able to make the play that followed.

 

“Did you see the last wide-open three he had?” Calipari asked. “He bank-missed it left. There was no one near him now. He — it went hard left. Two weeks ago he’d have had his head back and ran back. Two weeks later, playing to win, he runs down the ball and shoots the lay-up that may have won the game for us. Versus I can’t believe I did that, I’m embarrassed, high school. You don’t. And the same thing, you’re down six or seven — who cares? Just play.”

Ole Miss followed that possession with two Breein Tyree free throws to regain a 62-61 lead with 1:21 to play. However, Nick Richards gave the Wildcats the lead for good with two free throws of his own at the 1:11 mark.

Kentucky had a chance to extend their lead, but a turnover by Maxey gave the Rebels possession with 29 seconds remaining.

Instead of dropping his head about the turnover, Maxey stepped up and made a game saving stop on defense. Maxey forced Ole Miss guard Devontae Shular into a missed three-point attempt with 9 seconds remaining and Kentucky made free throws to close out the Rebels.

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