KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES 
MISSISSIPPI STATE vs. KENTUCKY
SEC TOURNAMENT
BRIDGESTONE ARENA | NASHVILLE, TENN.               
MARCH 11, 2021 
ATTENDANCE: TBD
 
Final Score: Mississippi State 74, Kentucky 73
 
Team Records and Series Notes                                       

• Kentucky concludes the season at 9-16 overall.  Mississippi State improves to 15-13 as it continues on to the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals.
  • It marks the Wildcats’ first losing season since going 13-19 in the 1988-89 season.

• UK leads the series 99-21 but today ended a 15-game winning streak vs. the Bulldogs, all under John Calipari.
  • UK is 8-3 vs. MSU in the SEC Tournament.

 
Player Notes   

• Dontaie Allen came off the bench to spark UK’s comeback. He scored 20 points in the second half en route to a career-high-tying 23 points.

  • Both of his 23-point games this season came against Mississippi State.
  • He made 6 of 13 on 3-pointers, including draining his first 3 since Feb. 13 vs. Auburn.
  • Allen finished the season with 46 points vs. the Bulldogs on 16-of-28 shooting with a combined 13 3-pointers in two games.
• Davion Mintz tallied 16 points and led the Wildcats in assists with a career-high-tying eight. 
  • He made 4 of 7 on 3-point shots, the eighth consecutive game he made at least two long balls. He made 45.3% on 3-pointers during that eight-game span.
    • He finished the year having drained multiple 3-pointers in 11 of his last 12 games played.
  • He averaged 16.7 points over the last six games.
  • He dished out 23 assists over the last three games, the best three-game stretch of his career.
• Olivier Sarr had 14 points and hit double figures for the fifth time in the last six games. He tied for the team lead in rebounds with five.
  • Sarr ended the season scoring in double figures in nine of the final 12 games.
• Plagued by foul trouble, Isaiah Jackson fouled out in 19 minutes of action, totaling seven points and three rebounds. It snapped a stretch of six straight games in double digits.
  • He had averaged 14.3 points during the previous six games.  
• Keion Brooks Jr. recorded 10 points and tied Sarr for a team-best five rebounds. 
  • He snared at least eight boards in five of the last six games and led UK in rebounding in seven games this season.
• Terrence Clarke played his first game since Dec. 26 at Louisville.  He had two points and three assists in 10 minutes of action.

 
Coach John Calipari 

• Calipari is now 339-93 at UK.
• Calipari has a 784-233 all-time on-court record. 
• UK is 275-55 under Calipari against teams unranked in the Associated Press Top 25.
• Calipari is 57-13 all-time in league tournaments, including 23-5 in the SEC Tournament.
  • It’s just the ninth time in 28 conference tournament appearances Calipari’s team did not reach the event’s championship game.
• It was Calipari’s first loss in his career to Mississippi State. He is now 16-1 vs. the Bulldogs.
• This marks only the second losing season in Calipari’s 29-year college coaching career in stops at Memphis, UMass and Kentucky.
  • His first college team, at UMass in 1988-89, went 10-18.

 
Team Notes 

• Kentucky scored 73 points today. UK is 8-1 this season when scoring at least 76 points but 1-15 when scoring 75 or fewer.
• With 18 assists and five turnovers, UK is now 9-4 this season when breaking even or better on assist-to-turnover margin.  The Wildcats are 0-12 this season with a negative assist-to-turnover margin.
  • The Wildcats outscored Mississippi State 11-2 in points off turnovers and 13-4 on the fastbreak.
• UK had shot free throws well recently, making 94 of 117 (80.3%) during the previous six games, but the Wildcats made only 10 of 17 today, 58.8%.
• Kentucky went 2-6 this season in games decided by one possession.
  • UK had four one-point losses this season, most by any Wildcat team in school history.
• The Wildcats were outrebounded today 46-30 and went 2-8 this season when losing or tying the battle of the boards.
• Kentucky was outscored 46-22 in the paint, falling to 5-12 this season when getting beat in the interior.
• UK’s bench outscored MSU’s 36-14.

 
UK in the SEC Tournament

• Kentucky is 134-27 all-time in the SEC Tournament.
• UK is 21-4 in SEC Tournament games played in Nashville, Tennessee. 
• Despite the loss, the Wildcats will still end the 2021 SEC Tournament with more SEC Tournament crowns (31) than the rest of the league combined (29 after a champion this season is crowned).

 
In the First Half 

• Kentucky started Davion Mintz, Brandon Boston Jr., Jacob Toppin, Isaiah Jackson and Olivier Sarr for the second time. UK is 1-1 with this lineup.  

  • Lance Ware, Devin Askew and Keion Brooks Jr. were the first substitutes at the 15:58 mark.
  • Terrence Clarke entered at 13:11, his first appearance since Dec. 26 at Louisville.
• UK missed 11 of its first 13 field-goal attempts and never led in the first half.
• MSU’s first 34 points came in the paint or at the free throw line.
• Other than a tie at 5-5, MSU led the entire half and took its largest lead into the locker room at 44-30.
  • This tied UK’s largest halftime deficit in the history of the SEC Tournament, tying a 14-point deficit on March 10, 2000 vs. Arkansas and March 15, 2013 vs. Vanderbilt. UK lost both of the previous two games.
  • Other than one 3-pointer, all of MSU’s points came in the paint or at the free throw line.
  • Kentucky fell to 3-10 this season when trailing at halftime.

 
In the Second Half 

• Kentucky began the second half with Mintz, Boston, Dontaie Allen, Brooks and Jackson.
• With UK trailing 55-41 with 16 minutes remaining, the Wildcats went on an 24-9 spurt – featuring 18 points by Allen – to give UK its first lead of the game at 65-64 with 6:21 remaining.
• UK increased the lead to 71-66 with 4:30 left, capping a 30-11 run. 
• MSU’s Iverson Molinar got back-to-back 3-pointers to take a 72-71 lead.
• Sarr’s short lefty hook in the lane put UK up 73-72 with 1:18 to go.
• Molinar was fouled with 7.1 seconds left and he made both shots to put MSU ahead 74-73.
• Allen missed a 3-pointer with two seconds left as MSU held on to win.