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Kentucky

Reed Sheppard ices win over Mississippi State with floater at the buzzer

FaceProfileby:Thomas Goldkamp•02/27/24
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Photo by John Reed | USA TODAY Sports

In a finish for the ages, Kentucky star Reed Sheppard refused to be denied. He had a monster game, then delivered the dagger just before the buzzer in a 91-89 win over Mississippi State.

Kentucky nursed a small lead into the final moments of the game, but Mississippi State simply refused to go away.

And a costly turnover by Sheppard almost allowed the Bulldogs to do something special in a come-from-behind attempt. Sheppard made sure to make up for it in the end, though, doing so with a brilliant driving make in the lane for the game-winner.

It came just moments after Mississippi State tied the game at 89-89 with a deep 3-pointer from Josh Hubbard with 10 seconds left.

Sheppard got the ball on the ensuing possession, took it near the top of the arc and split two defenders, then released a floater into the lane. It sailed … then swished, leaving just 0.6 seconds on the clock.

And on the ensuing in-bounds pass, Reed Sheppard corralled it to seal the win. Check out his game-winning floater below.

The game-winner was just the final salvo from Sheppard on a night when he threw plenty of punches. The Kentucky star scored 32 points in the contest, while also recording seven assists, five rebounds and two blocked shots.

Kentucky trailed for most of the game before finally pulling ahead with about four and a half minutes to play.

The Wildcats seemed poised to simply lean on the Bulldogs to close out the win at that point, but both teams got hot offensively and the Bulldogs refused to quit. On another night, Hubbard’s killer make from way downtown to tie it would have been the highlight.

Reed Sheppard had other ideas.

He was one of four double-figure scorers on the evening for Kentucky, with Antonio Reeves scoring 21, Adou Thiero scoring 11 and DJ Wagner scoring 10.

Kentucky finished with a major edge in bench scoring in the contest, winning that mark 47-14.