Kentucky Slips by Mississippi State in Overtime, 16 February 2010

The Kentucky Wildcats came into Mississippi St with a 24-1 (9-1 SEC) record on the season.  Mississippi State looked to knock off the Wildcats to build their resume for the NCAA Tournament.  The game started physical and continued that way throughout the first half.  The game was back and forth and Kentucky finished the half with a 32-29 lead.

The Mississippi State Bulldogs came out strong in the second half, but Jarvis Varnado (Miss St) picked up two quick fouls back-to-back to cause Mississippi St to go small, giving Kentucky the advantage inside the paint and on the rebounds.  The game would remain close throughout the rest of the game.  Mississippi State held a 7-point lead with only a few minutes left, but Kentucky was able to push the game into overtime.  The score at regulation was 67 apiece after DeAndre Liggins missed a last-second 2-point shot to send the game into overtime.

The overtime belonged to the Kentucky Wildcats.  The Wildcats outscored the Bulldogs 14-8 in the overtime.  The final score of the basketball game was 81-75 in favor of the Kentucky Wildcats.

Top Performers for Kentucky were:
DeMarcus Cousins - 19 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block (5 turnovers)
Patrick Patterson - 19 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks, 1 steal
John Wall - 18 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks (3 turnovers)
Darius Miller - 9 points, 2 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist
Eric Bledsoe - 7 points, 1 block
DeAndre Liggins - 6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block
Daniel Orton - 2 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks

Some Mississippi State fans, in a classless act at the end of the basketball game, started throwing water bottles on the floor while the players were still on the floor.  Luckily, no player from either team was hit with the water bottles.  The Kentucky players and coaches were able to get off the floor with no incidents.

Kentucky was able to get a balanced scoring contribution from the Wildcat players.  Although the Cats didn’t shoot the ball well from behind the 3-point line, the Wildcats were able to dominate on the boards, out-rebounding the Bulldogs by 21 rebounds.

Kentucky’s next game is on the road against the Vanderbilt Commodores.  The game is scheduled on the 20th of February, 2010, at 6:00 p.m. (EST).

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