FINAL: Jaxson Robinson's 27 points lead No. 6 Kentucky past No. 14 Mississippi State 95-90 in huge road win

Kentucky has still yet to let one loss turn into two this season. But this bounce-back victory is the sweetest one yet.

On Saturday night in Starkville, the No. 6 Wildcats (13-3) won an offensive thriller, 95-90, on the road against the No. 14 Mississippi State Bulldogs (14-2). Some huge shots down the stretch from Ansley Almonor and excellent late-game defense from Lamont Butler allowed Kentucky to recover from a road loss earlier this week to Georgia. But this was Jaxson Robinson‘s breakout game. The BYU transfer finished with a season-high 27 points on 7-10 shooting from long range.

Kentucky’s offense was lights out all game, finishing with a 55.7 percent mark from the field, including a 16-32 clip from the three-point line. Six total Wildcats finished in double-figures, led by Robinson’s 27. Otega Oweh went for 15 points and eight rebounds while Andrew Carr (who was a game-time decision) added 13 points and six rebounds. Almonor’s 11 points were massive. Butler and Amari Williams both contributed 10 points, as well.

Another game, another slow start for the ‘Cats. But the beginning of this contest would play out differently than what went down in Athens just a few days ago. Mississippi State jumped out to an early 11-5 lead before Kentucky settled in. Some huge early minutes from Travis Perry and Almonor helped push UK in front. UK would go up by as many as six points midway through the opening half.

But every other positive play by the road team was met with a negative one. Turnovers began to pile up for Kentucky (five in the final eight minutes of the half), as did the missed free throws (9-14). UK also fouled a couple of three-point shooters on the other end. All that being said, the Bulldogs couldn’t pull away. Why? Because Kentucky played with physicality and was hitting shots.

The ‘Cats went 8-17 from deep in the first half, led by Robinson’s 4-5 clip. He was up to 16 first-half points while Williams chipped in 10 points, five rebounds, and three rebounds. Kentucky took a 49-44 lead into the intermission with Mississippi State shooting just 3-16 from beyond the arc. Star guard Josh Hubbard was limited to 10 points on 3-10 shooting for the Bulldogs.

Robinson came out hotter than a volcano to start the second half, burying a trio of triples in the opening minutes. An and-one from Carr punctuated Kentucky’s flamethrower start, making it a 65-51 advantage for the ‘Cats by the first media timeout. The fun didn’t last long though. Mississippi State immediately went on a 15-2 run that forced head coach Mark Pope to call a timeout with 12:15 left in the game.

The Bulldogs would take its first lead of the second half with under 10 minutes to go after finding a way to score six points in one possession. Kentucky’s momentum quickly disappeared — until Almonor decided to find it, nailing back-to-back three-pointers followed by an Oweh jumper. Just like that, Kentucky was back in front 86-80. Almonor would tack on a third triple a couple of possessions later for good measure.

But Mississippi State refused to go away. At the final media timeout, Kentucky was clinging to a five-point lead. A couple of timely scores from the Bulldogs made it just a one-point game. But with a little over a minute left, Robinson stepped into a clean mid-range jumper that put the ‘Cats back up by three points. Butler, who shut down Hubbard in the closing minute, hit the biggest shot of the game, a floater in the lane that gave UK the game-deciding five-point lead.