Postgame Notes: MSU vs. Kentucky

TEAM NOTES

Mississippi State nearly overcame a 13-point deficit over the game's final eight minutes, but Kentucky was able to fend off the rally to secure a 71-68 victory over the Bulldogs on Wednesday in-front of a sellout crowd at Humphrey Coliseum.
The loss snapped State's five-game winning streak and drop the Bulldogs to 17-9 overall and 5-8 in SEC play this season.
The Wildcats have won 17 of last 18 meetings in the series under John Calipari.
The Maroon and White hit on 17 of its 24 buckets on the interior for a 34-22 edge in paint points. State has outscored its opponents in paint points during 19 of 26 games this season.
The Bulldogs passed out 15 assists on their 24 field goals. Over the last six games, State has distributed 101 assists on its 154 baskets.
State forced the Wildcats into 12 turnovers and managed to turn those Kentucky miscues into 18 of the game's 34 points off turnovers.
The Bulldogs got out in transition and scored 19 of the game's 22 fastbreak points. The 19 fastbreak points are tied for the second-most this season.
A key to Kentucky's win was a 38-22 rebounding advantage sparked by 18 offensive rebounds. The Wildcats turned those extra opportunities into an 18-8 advantage in second chance points.
State started strong with a D.J. Jeffries three-pointer followed by a Shakeel Moore transition layup to go up 5-2 with 17:31 remaining.
Kentucky countered with 16 of the next 22 points to go up 18-11 at the 10:06 mark of the opening half.
The Bulldogs answered and got within 36-35 at halftime on a Cameron Matthews deep triple off the glass to beat the halftime buzzer.
Out of the locker room, State kept the momentum on its side with six of the first eight points capped by a Dashawn Davis transition layup courtesy of a pinpoint outlet pass from Jeffries to make it 41-38 with 16:30 left.
Over the next 7:57, Kentucky made its biggest push behind an 18-2 spurt to take its largest lead, 56-43 with 8:33 to go.
The Bulldogs would connect on their last seven field goals of the game to nearly erase the 13-point hole. Down the stretch, Kentucky would hit 9-of-10 at the foul line during the game's last 3:14 to hold on.
As a team, the Bulldogs drained 24-of-48 from the floor (50.0 percent), 6-of-20 from beyond the three-point line (30.0 percent) and was 14-of-19 from the free throw line (73.7 percent).
Conversely, Kentucky was 25-of-55 on its shot attempts (45.5 percent), also made 6-of-20 of its triples (30.0 percent) and were 15-of-20 at the charity stripe (75.0 percent).

PLAYER NOTES

Tolu Smith

Poured in 22 points on an 8-of-9 shooting clip.
Marked his 7th game this season and 16th time with 20+ points over his career.
10 of the 16 outings of 20+ points have come against SEC opponents.
Extended his streak to 10 straight games in double figures and has amassed 10+ points in 57 of 77 career games in Maroon and White.
Notched 16.8 points and 9.1 rebounds per game over the 10-game stretch.
Registered a SEC season's best three blocks.
Started 76 of 77 games in Maroon and White.

Shakeel Moore

Pumped in 14 points, complimented by two assists and two rebounds.
Amassed 10+ points in five of the last six and seven of his last nine outings.
Piled up 22 of his 27 career games in double figures at State.
Made 36 of his 38 career starts at MSU.

Dashawn Davis

Knocked down two treys en route to a 13-point night before fouling out.
Has made multiple threes in back-to-back games and nine times this season.
Dished out multiple assists for the 19th consecutive game and 21st time this season.
Came away with three steals which marked his eighth time over the last 10 games and his 12th outing with 2+ steals this season.

Cameron Matthews

Scored a SEC career-high 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor.
Tallied double figures in four of his last six outings, six occasions this season and nine times during his career.
Stuffed the stats sheet with seven rebounds, a career-high six assists and two steals.
Marked his 18th time this season and 36th career game with multiple assists.
Added his 15th outing of 2022-23 and 34th occasion with multiple steals.
Registered 5+ reboundsin 15 of 26 games this season and 33 times over his career.

D.J. Jeffries

Turned in three points, five rebounds and four assists.
Handed out multiple assists in 15 games this season and 54 times over his career.
Collected 5+ rebounds for the 17th time in 2022-23 and 45th occasion during his career.
Started 57 of 60 games at State.

Bench

Eric Reed Jr. scored all five points for State off the bench.

Postgame Notes: MSU vs. Kentucky

Players Mentioned

Dashawn Davis

D.J. Jeffries

Cameron Matthews

Shakeel Moore

Eric Reed Jr.

Tolu Smith III

Mississippi State University Athletics

Postgame Notes: MSU vs. Kentucky

Players Mentioned

Dashawn Davis

D.J. Jeffries

Cameron Matthews

Shakeel Moore

Eric Reed Jr.

Tolu Smith III

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