No. 8 Kentucky gets offensive, rolls past Mississippi State 90-77
No. 8 Kentucky shot 56% from the field and made 23 of 27 at the foul line to roll past Mississippi State 90-77 on Wednesday evening at Rupp Arena.
The Bulldogs fell behind early in the opening half and couldn’t find enough stops to claw their way back into the game down the stretch. State fell to 12-5 overall and 1-3 in the SEC while Kentucky moved to 13-3 overall and 3-1 in the league.
“We knew going in they had multiple playmakers and tons of talent,” said State head coach Chris Jans. “And they put it on display. We obviously did not get off to a good start. It was 15-5 before we woke up. Very disappointed with our mindset and how we started the game and for the most part, how we played for the whole first half.”
Tolu Smith led Mississippi State with 26 points and eight rebounds while Trey Fort had 13 points off the bench. Cameron Matthews finished with eight points, eight rebounds and six assists. Smith was 11 of 15 from the floor and also had three assists.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence in him, especially on the offensive end,” said Jans of Fort. “He’s earned more playing time, obviously, as everyone can see. He is a weapon on offense. We just have to continue be assignment correct on defense and understand what is going on on that end of the floor. But he showed again that he can help us going forward.”
Antonio Reeves had a game-high 27 points for Kentucky, who have now won 18 straight regular-season matchups with Mississippi State. Rob Willingham had 16 for Kentucky while Tre Mitchell and Aaron Bradshaw added 15 and 11 points, respectively.
Kentucky also made 7 of 23 from 3 point range and both teams had 33 rebounds. State shot 45% from the floor and 9 of 27 behind the arc. The Bulldogs made 6 of 10 at the charity stripe and had nine turnovers.
Trailing by 18 at halftime, the Bulldogs opened the second half on a 10-0 run and cut the deficit to 49-43 following a DJ Jeffries 3 pointer with 17:17 left in the half. But the Wildcats answered with an 11-3 run to stretch the lead back to 60-46. State never got within 11 points the rest of the way.
“We had a decision to make at halftime,” Jans noted. “We were going to put up a stand or just go away. If there is any silver lining, they came out and punched back a little bit (in the second half). But we were unable to sustain it and eventually they closed it out.”
State got off to a quick 5-2 lead but it was all downhill from there the rest of the first half. Kentucky used a 13-0 run to grab control at 15-5 and the Wildcats kept extending the lead. Another 8-0 run by Kentucky increased the advantage to 40-22 before the Wildcats settled for a 47-29 halftime advantage.
The Bulldogs shot just 35% in the opening half while Kentucky shot 52%. Both teams were 5 of 14 from 3 point territory while the Wildcats out-rebounded State 21-17. The Bulldogs made 2 of 4 at the foul line and had eight first-half turnovers. Kentucky was 8 of 10 at the line and had just four turnovers.
“We shot the ball pretty well throughout the night,” said Jans. “Certainly we did not shoot it great at the line and they did. That was a huge difference in the game amongst a bunch of other things. But they beat us 23-6 at the free throw line.”
The Bulldogs look to get back on track Saturday when Vanderbilt visits Humphrey Coliseum for a 2:30 p.m. tipoff.
