10 ways Reed Sheppard was awesome in Starkville

DrewFranklinKSR

reed-sheppard-mississippi-state — (Photo by Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports)

Reed Sheppard called game against Mississippi State, hitting the final shot with under a second to go to give Kentucky a 91-89 win in The Hump. Sheppard’s game-winning bucket headlines his MVP night in Starkville as he led the Wildcats in scoring, assists, rebounds, steals, and blocks, playing 35 of 40 minutes from his role off the bench. Sheppard was incredible in guiding Kentucky back from a 13-point second-half Bulldog lead when he scored 23 of his career-high 32 points after halftime. He didn’t do it alone, but his remarkable performance deserves recognition. Let’s start with the winning floater in these 10 reasons Sheppard was awesome.

The Game-Winner

After leading the comeback, Sheppard hit two free throws to put Kentucky up by six with 36 seconds to go; however, he and his teammates gave away the late lead with inexperienced mistakes, including a very costly turnover by Sheppard, one of his only missteps of the night. Mississippi State’s Josh Hubbard was the biggest problem for Kentucky late in the game. The SEC Co-Freshman of the Week hit three 3-pointers in the final minute, including the 3 to tie the game with 11 seconds to go.

That’s when Sheppard performed his final act, driving straight down the lane to hit a one-handed heave over Hubbard from the foul line.

REED SHEPPARD WINS IT FOR KENTUCKY 🚨 @KentuckyMBB pic.twitter.com/1pevWzZwfu
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) February 28, 2024

After the game, DJ Wagner told Jack Givens, “Reed played amazing. He had a great game. He hit a crazy shot at the end. He’s built for that.”

11 of 14

Sheppard has been one of the best players in the entire country. Still, he’s received criticism for passing up shots and not being aggressive enough as one of the top 3-point shooters in the game. Against Mississippi State, Sheppard took an efficient 14 shots from the field, hitting 11 of them for a 79 percent clip. He hit 7 of 7 inside the arc and all of his free ones at the foul line. His only misses were 3-pointers, and he still made four of those on seven tries.

(Photo by Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports)

Most points in The Hump

Sitting courtside for the radio broadcast, Jack Givens watched his longstanding record get broken when Sheppard hit the two free throws to put Kentucky up by six, Sheppard’s 27th and 28th points in the game. Until then, Givens and Kenny Walker shared Kentucky’s all-time record for points scored in Mississippi State’s Humphrey Coliseum, a 50-year-old building, with 27 each. Sheppard’s 32 is the new all-time high (via Corey Price).

More than Mom and Dad

With the new personal best, Sheppard passed his parents’ career-scoring highs at Kentucky. Jeff Sheppard and Stacey Reed Sheppard each had high-scoring games, but neither crossed the 30-point park in a single game. Jeff needed overtime to get his 27 points against Stanford (although it was in the Final Four); Stacey scored 26 against Louisville.

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A Kentuckian did it again in Starkville

Maybe it is something in the Bluegrass that thrives against Mississippi State? In 2021, Kentucky native Dontaie Allen scored a career-high 23 points in Starkville as the Wildcats won a double-OT thriller against the Bulldogs. Allen scored another 23 against Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament later that season.

Sheppard followed Allen’s blueprint by lighting up the Bulldogs for 32 points, the most ever in a single game by a Kentucky-born freshman at UK.

Hunting down the steals record

Sheppard’s two steals in the game moved him up a place on the school’s single-season steals list. He entered the game in a tie for fourth with Cliff Hawkins (74) but added two more steals against the Bulldogs to slide into a tie for third with Rodrick Rhodes (76). Second-place Wayne Turner is now three away with 79 steals, then Rajon Rondo is the all-time record holder with 87 steals in 2004-05.

The first since 2010-11…

Another from Corey Price: Sheppard is the only Division I player since 2010-2011 to come off the bench to score at least 32 points with seven assists, five rebounds, two blocks, and two steals in a single game.