What should we take from Kentucky's 67-62 win against Ole Miss?

Nobody is without an opinion or two following Kentucky's five-point win against Ole Miss.

Is it a positive that Kentucky won while shooting 2/22 from outside, or more concerning that the shooting problem keeps popping up?

In short, the answer is yes to both.

More on that and some other takeaways from Saturday's action.

Kentucky avoided a potentially but not necessarily bad loss ... Here's a reminder that no matter how much the NCAA tweaks the selection process and introduces new ways of improving things, there will always be a bit of silly subjectivity. Had Ole Miss defeated Kentucky in Lexington that would have been a Quadrant 3 loss, Kentucky's second of the year. Maybe. Ole Miss was outside the NET's top 75, and losing to such a team at home is a Quadrant 3 loss. Unless beating Kentucky had moved Ole Miss inside the top 75, which it may well have. Anyone who has watched Ole Miss over the last two weeks knows that they're playing some quality basketball. But it could have been a really bad loss on Selection Sunday, which is the most important reason for fans to be excited about the win. What didn't happen is more important than what did happen.

It's impressive that a team wins when it shoots 2/22 from three ... That much is indisputable. It's impressive that Kentucky wins so often in recent years getting so little from outside the arc.

But it's also a reminder that this team is not out of the woods in terms of long-range proficiency ... Before Saturday's win against Ole Miss, Kentucky was better than 38-percent from three on average since the start of the 2020 calendar year. That's much, much better than Kentucky was during the 2019 portion of the '19-20 season. But this game, as well as just about every home Kentucky game this year, is a reminder that it's well within this team's capacity to go ice cold from outside. And you probably aren't winning from the Sweet 16-on, maybe earlier, if you shoot like that.

E.J. Montgomery is becoming a reliable contributor ... He may not be there yet and the description probably requires an explanation. By that it's meant that Montgomery will be an overall asset when he's on the court. His defense has improved, his rebounding has markedly improved, and he hustles. He doesn't back down. He's not on the same level as Kentucky's top four players, but he's moving in that direction as opposed to back towards the less reliable players on the team. He was big down the stretch against Ole Miss.

Kentucky now has the best chance of any team to win the SEC ... Kentucky does have a stiff test in Baton Rouge on Tuesday but they draw the Tigers at a good time and while Kentucky has lost a couple of times on the road in conference play, they have played well enough that fans can be confident they will show up. They will also be regarded as the favorite when Auburn visits. UK travels to Texas A&M, where the Aggies have suffered several lopsided defeats already, and it's tough to imagine the Volunteers scoring enough to win in Lexington.