LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Road victories in Southeastern Conference men’s basketball this season are like tickets to a Taylor Swift concert:
Difficult to find and indispensable once you have them.
Ask top-ranked Tennessee, which went to Florida and got humbled earlier this week. Or No. 2 Auburn, which labored to survive South Carolina, allegedly the most beatable team in the SEC, Saturday afternoon.
Kentucky (13-3) got one Saturday night, taking down No. 14 Mississippi State, 95-90. The Wildcats made half of their 32 three-point field goal attempts and did not allow the Bulldogs to score in the final two minutes.
"We were the hammer, not the nail tonight," UK's Ansley Almonor said on the Kentucky Sports Network after the game. "We responded every time they made a little run."
"It was a heavyweight fight and our guys were tough, courageous and together," UK coach Mark Pope said. "What a fun night for our guys."
Six of Pope’s guys scored double figures, led by Jaxon Robinson, who made seven three-point shots while scoring 27. Seven Wildcats scored from distance on a night when Koby Brea, usually the team’s best shooter, went 1 for 5.
In a league with nine teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 and 13 teams on track to make the NCAA Tournament, the Wildcats claimed one of the most significant road victories in SEC play as they return home to play Texas A&M Tuesday night.
After eight days and three games, only three SEC teams remain unbeaten in league play -- Auburn, Alabama and Ole Miss. UK sits in a seven-way tie for fourth place with a 2-1 SEC record.
State is the most overlooked ranked team in the nation, winning 14 of their first 15 while rising to No. 14 in the AP poll. They were unbeaten in all seven game at Humphrey Coliseum, which typically was not packed with 10,575 boisterous fans the way it was Saturday night in Starkville. They had not allowed more than 84 points in any game -- and had only allowed more than 79 one time.
The first half was a treat. Four days after UK made only six (of 25) three-point shots in a loss to unranked Georgia, the Wildcats came out shooting the ball like Tony Delk and Travis Ford had another season of eligibility.
They hit 8 of 17 threes in the first half, including a buzzer-beater by Lamont Butler that pushed the Wildcats to a 49-44 halftime lead.
An injured back made the availability of Andrew Carr a game-time decision. He played 10 minutes In the first half and 11 more in the second, scoring 13 valuable points.
The second half was equally compelling. Kentucky surged to a 14-point lead and then gave all of it up, falling behind, 80-78, with a little more than 8 minutes to play. They went back ahead by seven and watched State cut it to one.
"This game had a lot of swings, a lot of drama," Pope said.
Get this: Almonor, who had made two of his last 11 three-point shots, made three consecutive threes when UK regained control.
"I kept working in practice," Almonor said. "It was only a matter of time before I was going to start making shots."
But at winning time, the Wildcats forced State to miss its final four shots, all three pointers. It was a 17-footer by Robinson and then another two-pointer by Lamont Butler that sealed it for Kentucky. Credit Butler with 10 points but make sure you note that he played 34 minutes with eight assists and no turnovers.
"I can't say enough about Lamont Butler," Pope said. "He just keeps getting better and better and better.
The Aggies are ranked No. 10 -- and will give the Wildcats a shot for their fifth victory against a ranked opponent this season. A&M lost at home to Alabama, 94-88, on Saturday.
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