KSR Today: Kentucky back on track with Mississippi State win

Winning on the road in conference play is hard. Kentucky learned that in overtime at Texas A&M. Instead of letting that losing feeling linger, the Cats returned to Rupp Arena, put their foot on the gas and left Mississippi State in the rearview mirror.

The slow-starting Cats did not waste any time in the starting gate. Kentucky went on a 13-0 run to get some breathing room, then completely opened the game up right before half, leading by as much as 20 points prior to intermission. Mississippi State made one run to temporarily close the gap, but it was all Cats everything in the 90-77 Kentucky win.

Antonio Reeves continues to be that dude. The sensational super senior scored 27 points. It was his eighth 20+ point game of the season. Since the Louisville win he’s surpassed that milestone four times and is averaging 23.2 points per game.

Rob Dillingham continues to do Rob Dillingham things. He scored 16 points and had four assists. Tre Mitchell chipped in 15 points for the Cats and Aaron Bradshaw tallied 11 points and six rebounds.

Tolu Smith was one of only two Mississippi State players to score in double figures. Nine Bulldog turnovers turned into a dozen points for the Cats, who blocked seven shots in the win.

It’s the ninth time this Kentucky team has scored 90+ points this season. They’ve done it in three straight games and last night the Cats did whatever they wanted against a Top 10 defense. Incredible. One of the highest-scoring teams in college basketball is not slowing down anytime soon. They will return to Rupp Arena Saturday at 6 pm EST against Georgia.

John Calipari gets Win 400 at Kentucky

John Calipari has won 400 games at Kentucky. Wow. It really doesn’t feel like that long ago we were staring at a door, waiting to see if he was in fact leaving Memphis for Lexington. Now he is the third-fastest active head coach to reach 400 wins at a program, trailing only Bill Self and Mark Few. Coach Cal downplayed the significance of his latest milestone.

“All I would say to you, you stay long enough and you have enough really good players, a lot of those things happen. I am not doing this for numbers,” Calipari said.

“I don’t even know what my record is. I could care less. But you can see, I’m locked into how can I help these players? Some of it is, you know, how you help them. You put them on the bench, you just sit them; that’s how you help them. Other times you have got to hug them.”

A Rupp Arena Reunion

This ones for all those 90s kids out there. Scott Padgett, currently an assistant for Chris Jans at Mississippi State, posed for a picture at mid-court with a couple of his old teammates, Cameron Mills and Jeff Sheppard. It’s good to have Padgett back in town, especially when his new team isn’t beating his former team.

Always fun when teammates and close friends get to see each other over a game.
3 #NationalChampions #BBN pic.twitter.com/5OmWEAN1rn

— CAMERON MILLS (@CameronMillz) January 17, 2024

The Kentucky Tip Drill

The Wildcats have not mastered the art of throwing the lob pass, but they have figured out the tip-out. When Ugonna Onyenso and Aaron Bradshaw can’t pull in a rebound, they use their length to keep the ball alive for teammates to corral. After getting dominated on the glass at A&M, the Cats were all over it against a big, physical Mississippi State team. Kentucky held the advantage for almost the entire game, until the Bulldogs got one in garbage time, each ending with 33 boards. Take a closer look at the box score here.

BOOM! 10 Grand on a Half-court Shot

Kentucky is running and gunning, hitting shots all across the court, but that wasn’t the biggest shot of the night. That honor belongs to Gannon McMahon, who nailed a half-court shot to rake in $10,000.

BANG!!😼

Congrats, Gannon McMahon, who sunk a half-court shot to win $10k courtesy of Central Bank. pic.twitter.com/WuGJK1rv7K

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) January 18, 2024

Postgame Viewing

You saw the game, now see what people are saying about it with wall-to-wall coverage across the KSR YouTube Channel.

• John Calipari’s Postgame Press Conference
• Bradshaw, Dillingham, Reeves meet with the media after the game
• Highlights from the Kentucky Basketball Victory
• 2024 Kentucky Basketball Player Intros
• The Song of the Summer: Kentucky Joe’s ‘The Thundercats’

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More Kentucky Basketball Talk

Now that you’ve watched highlights, the press conferences and Rapid Reaction, you’re probably left wanting a little more Kentucky basketball talk. Don’t you worry, we’ve got you covered. You can listen to the KSR Postgame Show podcast and tune into Sources Say LIVE tonight at 8 pm EST on the KSR YouTube Channel.

Scores from Around College Basketball

No. 1 UConn 62, No. 18 Creighton 48
No. 4 North Carolina 86, Louisville 70
No. 5 Houston 77, No. 25 Texas Tech 54
No. 12 Arizona 82, USC 67
No. 13 Auburn 80, Vanderbilt 65
No. 15 Oklahoma 77, West Virginia 63
LSU 89, No. 22 Ole Miss 80

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