The way things were going, Kentucky needed a life vest.The Wildcats, possession by possession, were watching a lead that once reached 13 points disappear, the pivotal play coming when Karl-Anthony Towns hung on the rim too long on a dunk attempt with UK up eight and drew a technical foul.After that, the Cats were going to have to figure out how to tread water on their own.”Nope. No timeouts this time,” Calipari said. “They’re going to learn their lesson on this. We’re not losing in March because of a play like that.”In a blink, LSU was on a 16-0 run and UK trailed 66-60. Unbeaten record and all, Coach Cal was fully prepared for the result to go against his team for the first time in 2014-15 so the same wouldn’t happen again when a loss would mean the end of the season.”I hope we lose,” Calipari said. “You’ll learn. You’ll never do – watch this. You don’t do stuff like that in a 10-point game. You finish people off.”The Cats, however, weren’t about to go along with that.Instead, No. 1 UK closed on an 11-3 run to move to 24-0 (11-0 Southeastern Conference) and secure a 71-69 win over the Tigers (17-7, 6-5 SEC) in a raucous Maravich Center. LSU failed to score for the final 3:52 in falling short in its upset bid.”That is what you sign up for when you come to Kentucky,” said Willie Cauley-Stein, who had 15 points, seven rebounds and two more SportsCenter Top 10-worth dunks. “They tell you that when they are in your home visiting you, it’s going to be a sell-out every night. It’s going to be a gold-out, a black-out or a white-out every night. Everyone is going to have t-shirts. That’s what it is when you sign up to play here. It’s good for us.”UK won the battle on the glass against a big, athletic LSU frontline, 40-35. Fittingly, it was the player who made the mistake that triggered the run that nearly felled the Cats who got the biggest rebound of them all.After Towns scored with 1:30 left to give UK a one-point lead and LSU committed a turnover, the Cats had the ball and ran down the shot clock. Andrew Harrison tried a jumper and missed, but Towns, refusing to put his head down after his technical, tapped the loose ball to himself and snared it to keep possession.”I had to let that play go,” Towns said. “The biggest thing I was worried about was getting this W. I just had to put my body on the line and do anything I could to get this win. I am glad I was able to come down with the rebound and give my team what they needed.”Devin Booker, who scored 14 points, would get fouled and hit one of two at the line. LSU’s Keith Hornsby tried a 3 in the final seconds, but it missed. That loss, even though Calipari was resigned to it, just wouldn’t come. Or more appropriately, the Cats – and the player known by shorthand as KAT – wouldn’t let it.”The other thing I’m proud of Karl is he came back and he grew up,” Calipari said of Towns, who had 12 points and 13 rebounds. “Big rebound, big steal, big basket. Won the game. Now, I doubt ever in his life will he chin up on a basket. Ever again.”Consider the lesson learned.”I can’t be doing that,” Towns said.