Kentucky is now 15-7 overall and leads the SEC Eastern Division with a record of 8-2.
Mississippi State is now 12-9 overall, 3-7 in the SEC West.
This was Kentucky’s fifth consecutive win and 12th win in the last 14 games.
UK has won nine consecutive home games and 20 consecutive SEC home games.
UK has won five consecutive games against Mississippi State and now leads the all-time series 78-16.
Key run: ahead 24-21, UK goes on a 14-3 run to end the half with a 38-24 lead; MSU gets no closer than 14 points in the second half.
MSU shot 26.9 percent from the field. This is the 12th time this season that UK has held an opponent under 40 percent shooting and UK is 10-2 in those games.
UK shot 51.8 percent from the field. UK is 8-0 this season when shooting 50 percent or better.
MSU missed all 19 three-point attempts. The last time UK held an opponent without a three-pointer was Feb. 9, 1997, when Villanova was 0-3 on three-pointers.
Senior guard Saul Smith had two assists today, giving him 320 in his career, and moving past Larry Johnson (319) for 10th place on the UK career assist list.
Freshman forward Erik Daniels tied his career high for rebounds with five.
Freshman guard Gerald Fitch tied his career high for assists with three. Fitch also scored 12 points for the second consecutive game, just one short of his career high.
Freshman guard Cliff Hawkins tied his career high for minutes played with 18. Hawkins scored 10 points, just one short of his career high.
Junior forward Tayshaun Prince continued his hot shooting, making 8 of 10 field goals, including 2 of 4 three-pointers. Prince is averaging 22.3 points over the last four games and has made 61.7 percent of his field goals and 50 percent of his three-pointers during that span.
Kentucky embarks on a two-game road trip this week, Wednesday at Tennessee and Saturday at Vanderbilt.
