Despite being nearly two months into the season, Kentucky will play its first true ?road? game when it travels to Starkville, Miss., Tuesday to face its second-consecutive undefeated foe and its third-straight ranked opponent – Mississippi State.
The Wildcats? pre-conference schedule saw them play away from Rupp Arena five times, all at neutral sites, although UK?s 79-74 win over Michigan State at Detroit?s Ford Field came before a decidedly Spartan crowd. The Cats are undefeated in five games this year away from home and have won 24 of its their last 26 games away from Rupp Arena.
After notching a 75-63 victory over previously undefeated Vanderbilt in its SEC opener, Kentucky extended its win streak against conference foes to 20 games. The Cats? last loss to a league school came on March 8, 2002 – a 70-57 loss to South Carolina in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament. Kentucky has won 18 consecutive SEC regular-season games, dating back to Feb. 27, 2002 – an 86-73 loss at Vanderbilt.
The Mississippi State Bulldogs
Mississippi State enters Tuesday night?s battle as one of nation?s seven remaining undefeated teams. At 13-0, MSU is enjoying its best start in school history, while its 2-0 start in league play is the first since its 1995-96 Final Four season. The Dogs also have charted 14-consecutive home wins.
Baylor transfer Lawrence Roberts leads the Bulldogs with 16.8 ppg (7th in the SEC) and 10.8 rpg (2nd in the SEC). He is one of only two conference players averaging a double-double. Timmy Bowers is second on the squad in scoring with 13.8 ppg, just ahead of Damien Wilkins with 13.3 ppg.
Head Coach Rick Stansbury is in his sixth season at State, posting a 113-60 overall record and 41-41 SEC mark.
Series History
This is the 98th meeting between the two teams. UK leads the overall series with the Bulldogs, 80-17, and has won seven of the last nine meetings. Kentucky handed MSU a 70-62 loss in Rupp Arena last season before defeating the Dogs in the SEC Tournament title game, 64-57.
The teams last met in Starkville on Jan. 5, 2002 and UK let a 20-point lead get away as the Bulldogs rallied for a 74-69 overtime win. UK owns a 28-11 series lead in Starkville and has won five of its last six games at Humphrey Coliseum.
Tubby Smith is 7-3 all-time against the Dogs (6-1 at UK). Rick Stansbury is 1-5 all-time against the Cats.
Cat-Dog Connections
The MSU coaching staff is has numerous Bluegrass connections. Head coach Rick Stansbury is from Louisville. He graduated from Meade County High School in 1977 and played college ball at Campblesville, where he led the Tigers to the 1981 NAIA District 32 Championship. Assistant Phil Cunningham is from Paducah and graduated from both Taylor County (Ky.) High School and Campbellsville College. The Bulldogs? coordinator of basketball operations, Mark White, was born in Russellville, Ky., and graduated from Olmstead (Ky.) High.
Both UK forward Bernard Cote and MSU center Terry Licorish hail from the Canadian province of Quebec. Cote calls St. Lambert home, while Licorish is from Montreal.
UK?s Lukasz Obrzut hails from Gliwice, Poland, while State?s Piotr Stelmach is from Kamien, Pomorski, Poland. Both are freshmen.
MSU freshman Billy Begley hails from Henderson, Ky., and attended Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburn, Mass., last season. He?s a graduate of Webster County High School in Dixon, Ky.
Cats vs. SEC West
Kentucky holds a record of 57-17 against SEC West teams since the league split into divisions in 1992.
The Wildcats were 8-0 against West teams in 2003 (including a 2-0 mark in the SEC Tournament) and has a current 10-game winning streak against West foes.
UK vs. Ranked Opponents
Mississippi State is Kentucky?s fifth ranked opponent this season and third straight. The Cats are 3-1 against ranked foes this year, with wins over then-No. 21/20 Michigan State, then-No. 9/9 North Carolina and No. 20/21 Vanderbilt. UK lost to then-No. 14/14 Louisville.
Last year, UK faced 14 ranked foes, going 12-2 in those games. The Cats earned wins over four top 10 teams, including No. 1 Florida on Feb. 4.
