Reed Sheppard capped his stellar night with a 15-foot runner with 0.5 seconds remaining to give No. 16 Kentucky a 91-89 victory over Mississippi State on Tuesday night in Southeastern Conference play in Starkville, Miss.
Sheppard scored a career-best 32 points on 11-of-14 shooting as the Wildcats (20-8, 10-5 SEC) recovered from a 13-point second-half deficit en route to beating the Bulldogs for the 19th time in the past 20 meetings. Sheppard made four 3-pointers and also had seven assists, five rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals for Kentucky.
Antonio Reeves added 21 points for the Wildcats, who shot 55 percent from the field and 10-of-30 from 3-point range. Adou Thiero had 11 points and D.J. Wagner scored 10.
Josh Hubbard established career highs of 34 points and seven 3-pointers for Mississippi State (19-9, 8-7), which had a five-game winning streak halted. Tolu Smith III had 21 points and 10 rebounds and Shakeel Moore added 10 points.
The Wildcats never led until Rob Dillingham drained a 3-pointer to give Kentucky a 72-71 lead with 4:24 remaining. Aaron Bradshaw followed with a dunk to make it a three-point margin with 3:38 left.
Mississippi State moved within 76-75 on two free throws by Moore with 1:48 left. Sheppard then scored five straight points and Dillingham added two free throws as the Wildcats took an 83-75 lead with 57.4 seconds remaining.
The Bulldogs kept fighting and received two 3-pointers from Hubbard and a three-point play by Cameron Matthews to move within 87-84 with 28.5 seconds left.
Mississippi State was again down three when Hubbard nailed a tying trey with 8.1 seconds left. Wildcats coach John Calipari didn’t call timeout, and Sheppard hit the decisive basket.
Mississippi State’s last chance ended when Sheppard intercepted the long pass downcourt.
The Bulldogs shot 51.6 percent from the field, including 11-of-25 from 3-point range.
Mississippi State led by eight at the break and used a 9-4 run to open the second half. Hubbard drained a 3-pointer and Moore added a layup to give Mississippi State a 52-39 lead with 18:11 remaining.
The Bulldogs moved ahead 56-45 on Smith’s basket with 12:52 remaining before Kentucky went on a 13-4 burst. Thiero’s fast-break dunk pulled the Wildcats within 60-58 with 10:36 left.
Mississippi State started the game strong and used an 11-0 run to take a quick 14-3 advantage. The Bulldogs led 43-35 at the break with Hubbard scoring 12 points and Smith adding 11. Sheppard had nine points in the half for the Wildcats.
–Field Level Media