FINAL: Kentucky bounces back against Mississippi State, moves to 3-1 in SEC play

After a crushing loss to Texas A&M on the road over the weekend, Kentucky men’s basketball bounced back in convincing fashion.

On Wednesday night in Rupp Arena, the Wildcats (13-3; 3-1 SEC) had no problem taking care of the Mississippi State Bulldogs (12-5; 1-3 SEC), winning by a final score of 90-77. Mississippi State’s 90 points allowed were the most it’s given up all season long and the most of the Chris Jans (in year two as MSU’s head coach) era. The Bulldogs were able to give Kentucky a minor scare to start the second half, but the game was never truly close.

As a team, Kentucky shot 55.6 percent from the field, 7-23 (30.4 percent) from beyond the arc, and 23-27 (85.2 percent) from the free-throw line. Four different Wildcats registered double-digits in scoring, led by Antonio Reeves and his 27 points on 8-12 shooting. Freshmen Rob Dillingham (16 points) and Aaron Bradshaw (11) weren’t too far behind while Tre Mitchell added 15 points on a perfect 5-5 shooting night.

For what feels like the first time since the beginning of the season, Kentucky was actually the team to strike first in this one (although Mississippi State did knock down its first three of the night — right on brand). The ‘Cats jolted out to a 15-5 lead just five minutes into the contest and maintained a comfortable advantage throughout most of the opening half.

Kentucky would go up by as many as 20 in the first half, fueled by a pair of double-digit scorers in Reeves (16) and Dillingham (10). John Calipari’s offense was clicking on all cylinders, shooting over 50 percent from the field while taking a 47-29 lead at the intermission.

(During the halftime break, one lucky UK fan knocked down a half-court shot that earned him $10,000 from Central Bank. Not a bad day for the young man.)

The script was flipped entirely to start the second half though. Mississippi State caught fire while Kentucky cooled off significantly. It took less than three minutes for the Wildcats’ 18-point lead to dip all the way down to six, forcing Calipari to call a timeout.

However, Kentucky’s cold stretch didn’t last long. Four straight points from the ‘Cats right out of the break made it a double-digit lead again as the home team went back to doing what it does best: score the basketball. The game would never get that close again as UK cruised to the win down the stretch.

Up next: Kentucky will stick around Lexington for another home game, this one coming against the Georgia Bulldogs (13-4) on Saturday, Jan. 20. Tipoff is set for 6:00 p.m. EST on the SEC Network.