The Kentucky Wildcats just got their best win of the season. They took down a top-five team, beating LSU 80-78 on a last-second shot by Tonie Morgan.
Morgan headlined a group of four players opting to transfer to Kentucky for the 2025-26 season. The team’s win over LSU highlighted how important those additions were to the team, especially Morgan’s addition.
ESPN ranked Morgan as the ninth most impactful transfer going into the season. While she has been playing well all season, her performance against LSU highlighted how much of a difference-maker she truly is for Kentucky.
Kim Mulkey raved about Tonie Morgan
Tonie Morgan recorded an incredibly efficient double-double against LSU. She finished the game with 24 points, converting seven of her ten field-goal attempts and all three of her shots from behind the arc. She also dished out twelve assists without turning the ball over at all, and got three rebounds and one steal. It was Morgan’s best scoring and playmaking game of the season and her fourth double-double.
To cap off a great performance, Morgan also hit the game-winning shot to hand LSU its first loss of the season.
After the game, LSU coach Kim Mulkey had some kind words for Morgan.
“You take her off that team, they’re a different team,” Mulkey said about Morgan. “She makes them go. And it’s not just the fact that she had 24 and 12. She had no turnovers. She makes them go. And it’s only fitting that she would be the one to hit the great shot at the end. She’s really a good player and she really plays well within the system. She makes everybody else on the team better.”
Morgan wasn’t the only transfer who played well
Morgan might have been the star of the show, but beating LSU was a true team effort. Several players had great performances. Teonni Key impressed with a 17-point, 16-rebound double-double, and Clara Strack recorded 15 points and nine rebounds.
Two of Kentucky’s other transfers also stood out. Jordan Obi played a solid game despite an inefficient shooting performance. She scored six points, got 10 rebounds, and dished out two assists. Her offensive rebounds made a big difference against an LSU team struggling on the glass. Asia Boone was huge off the bench with 18 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal.
After games against Missouri and Alabama, Kentucky will have another shot to prove that it can hang with and beat the top teams in the country. Oklahoma is currently ranked eighth. Playing well against another top-ten team would solidify Kentucky’s status as one of the best teams in college basketball, which Kenny Brooks desperately wants for his program. The production and experience Kentucky’s transfers provide will be invaluable in that game.