Mississippi State asked fans not to storm the court -- Reed Sheppard made sure they didn't

With just under five minutes left in Tuesday night’s game, Mississippi State was sensing an upset. The Bulldogs led No. 16 Kentucky 71-67 at the time. A giant message popped up on the big screen at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville.

“REMINDER: PLEASE STAY OFF THE PLAYING AREA AT THE END OF THE GAME”

Everyone in the building was expecting Mississippi State to finish off Kentucky. Hell, after how the last few seasons have gone, the Big Blue Nation was probably thinking the same thing. Bulldog fans would soon be flooding the hardwood as Kentucky players shuffled to get to the locker room as quickly as possible.

Mississippi State calls its shot. pic.twitter.com/ZmJH8Xrvyo

— Jack Pilgrim (@JackPilgrimKSR) February 28, 2024

But the home team made the grave mistake of jinxing itself.

Kentucky mounted a furious comeback down the stretch. Kentucky outscored the Bulldogs 24-18 after the on-screen announcement made its way through the arena. Reed Sheppard made damn sure there would be no court storming. The freshman hit a game-winning floater with under one second left. The only ones who stormed the court were members of the Kentucky bench.

“I wish I had seen it,” Calipari said with a grin postgame about the big screen graphic.

But let’s back up a second. Why did MSU feel the need to make the announcement in the first place? An incident last week between Wake Forest and Duke has sparked endless controversy surrounding the idea of court-storming ever since — to the point it’s become nauseating. Is it good? Is it bad? Is it only a topic of discussion because in this particular incident, a Duke player was injured? Probably (and it’s also Duke).

During the TV broadcast on Tuesday night, the ESPN announcers mentioned how Humphrey Coliseum had beefed up the arena with extra security. At one point, they even pointed cameras at all of the security crew members roaming the surrounding areas of the floor.

There was also a weird moment where color commentator Jimmy Dykes explained that Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart suggested the penalty for court-storming should be the home team forfeits a home game the following year, which is a ridiculous idea for several reasons.

In short, court-storming was always on the brain. For 39:59 of Tuesday night’s game, it still was. But Reed Sheppard showed that the best way to prevent a court-storming is to hit the shots necessary to win.

What a novel concept. But hey, at least MSU saved $100,000 in fines.