Kentucky falls flat late and takes 71-59 loss at Mississippi State

The last time Kentucky played at Mississippi State, the Bulldogs were up with six minutes to go before Kentucky used a 19-0 run to lift themselves to a 78-68 victory. Last season, the Cats beat the Bulldogs 91-69. Mississippi State entered Sunday’s game on a four-game losing streak. All of those things were good signs for Kentucky to get a win in The Hump.

As it turned out, however, those good signs were not pointing to a Kentucky victory as the Cats lost Mississippi State 71-59 to fall to 17-3 (4-2 SEC) on the year.

Kentucky got down by 10 early on in this one, and while defense wasn’t playing up to its standards, it was mainly the offensive struggles that held the Cats back. A few shots (literally just 3-15 shots) and some free throws put Kentucky back into the game, down 18-13 after quarter number one.

Late in the second quarter, Kentucky would go on a 16-2 run, and that once double digit deficit had become a 33-30 lead at the half. Kenny Brooks‘ squad had gotten down big several times before — Louisville, LSU and Oklahoma to name a few — and in those games, we saw that his group is be able to put those kinds of starts behind them to get the win.

However, with it being just a three-point game at the break, Mississippi State was certainly still in it. As Florida demonstrated on Thursday, no lead is safe, so the Cats needed to play 20 minutes of complete basketball to round out the game.

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Unfortunately for the Cats, they came out about as flat as can be in the third quarter. It turns out that Mississippi State was pretty hungry to get back on track in the SEC after a four-game skid. Tonie Morgan hit a tough fading jumper to end the third quarter, but again, Kentucky was on upset watch with 10 minutes left in regulation.

Kentucky would find itself down by 10 with 7:23 to go, and from there, they just couldn’t muster another comeback.

On Thursday, Kentucky will head to Knoxville to take on No. 20 Tennessee in the Food City Center. Last season, Kentucky beat the Lady Vols 82-58 at home. Time will tell if Kentucky can get another W over that ugly orange team. That matchup is set for 6:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network.