Kentucky Not Overlooking Mississippi State
Kentucky faces Mississippi State on Tuesday night in what sets up as a textbook “trap” game. That is, a game that falls in between two seemingly more important contests, where the favored team sometimes overlooks the opponent in between.
The Cats are coming off an 80-71 loss at No. 2 (now No. 1) Auburn on Saturday. The Cats are looking forward to travelling to one of college basketball’s best venues, Allen Fieldhouse, on Saturday to face the fifth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks.
But before Kentucky can worry about the Jayhawks, ESPN’s College Gameday and everything that goes with the matchup of college basketball’s most storied programs, the Cats need to handle their business on Tuesday night. And it will be no easy task, facing Ben Howland and his Mississippi State Bulldogs.
MSU is 13-5 on the season and 4-2 in the SEC. The Bulldogs have won three of their last four games and will enter Rupp Arena looking to pull off an upset.
Kentucky associate coach Orlando Antigua squashed the notion of a trap game in his opening comments during Monday’s UK press conference.
 |
||
| Kentucky vs. Mississippi State | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Wed., Tue. 25 – 9:00 p.m. ET |
||
| Coverage | ||
|
TV: ESPN |
||
| UK | Stats | MSU |
| 15-4 | Record | 13-5 |
| 5-2 | Conference Record | 4-2 |
| 82.3 | PPG | 75.5 |
| 63.7 | Opp PPG | 65.3 |
| .498 | FG% | .480 |
| .406 | Opp FG% | .423 |
| 41.5 | RPG | 37.7 |
| .355 | 3PT FG% | .328 |
| .301 | Opp 3PT FG% | .343 |
| 16.9 | APG | 14.4 |
| 7.1 | SPG | 8.6 |
| 4.9 | BPG | 3.9 |
“Looking at this week’s games, this game could be looked at as a trap game. When you play the number two team in the country and (the) anticipation of playing Saturday at a top 10 team in the country, you can forget about this kind of a game. And it’s something that we’re not doing. (Mississippi State) is a really, really good team. Mississippi State is a well-coached team. Coach Howland is a Final Four coach who has done it and he’s done an incredible job at Mississippi State.”
MSU has five players averaging in double figures. Iverson Molinar scores 17.7 points per game to lead the Bulldogs. Tolu Smith, who is questionable for Tuesday’s game, averages 13.1 points and a team-high 6.6 rebounds per game. Garrison Brooks and Shakeel Moore score 11.2 points per outing and D.J. Jeffries posts 10.1 points per contest.
Antigua was looking forward to Monday’s practice to see which Wildcats would be available. Both TyTy Washington Jr. and Sahvir Wheeler were injured on Saturday and Auburn and their availability for Tuesday’s game remains uncertain.
“We’re not sure what the makeup of our team is going to look like,” Antigua said. “We’ll have a better idea later today when we start to practice.”
Despite losing Washington early in the game on Saturday at Auburn, the Cats were never out of the contest. Kentucky was within four points with about three minutes left in the game.
Now, with a matchup at Kansas looming on Saturday, Kentucky must turn its focus to Mississippi State and not get caught in the trap game.
Wildcats Fall at No. 2 Auburn
Walker Kessler scored 19 points and K.D. Johnson added 17, helping No. 2 Auburn rally from a 10-point deficit to win their 15th straight. In a highly-anticipated matchup against the top two teams in the Southeastern Conference, it was big enough that students were pitching tents by Friday morning and endured the cold weather overnight to make sure they got in.
Kentucky’s No. 2 scorer, TyTy Washington, only played eight minutes and scored four points before being helped off the court with a left ankle injury. He didn’t return.
“That hurt us. No excuse though,” Wildcats coach John Calipari said. “We had our chances to win. We had breakdowns defensively.
“Defensively, the lob play, which we just kept telling the guys get off, but they just didn’t do it. They’ve done this to a lot of teams, but it was something that we thought we could guard.”
Johnson made 3 of 5 3-pointers for Auburn. Kessler hit 8 of 10 shots and had seven rebounds. Jabari Smith had 14 points and seven boards for the Tigers, who hit their first 15 free throws in the second half.
Wendell Green Jr. was scoreless for the first 28 minutes, then hit a pair of 3-pointers in a 25-second span and finished with 11 points.
Oscar Tshiebwe had 16 points, 14 rebounds and four blocked shots for Kentucky (15-4, 5-2) and was already hoping for a rematch.
“I don’t think they’re better than us,” Tshiebwe said. “I think we’re going to beat them. I want to play them again.”
Kellan Grady made 4 of 7 3-pointers and scored 17 points. Sahvir Wheeler, Johnson’s former teammate at Georgia, also scored 17 points and had four assists but was also dealing with an apparent leg injury late.
The Tigers, who trailed by 10 points during the first half, took a 64-52 lead with 6:07 remaining. Johnson hit three free throws after getting fouled on a 3-point shot – as Jaylin Williams and Jabari Smith had earlier in the half.
Grady’s 3-pointer from the right corner cut it to four points with 3:20 to play.
“I see why they call it The Jungle,” Grady said. “I’m not going to go on and on about how awesome their fans are, but this is obviously an electric atmosphere and a tough place to play.”
The Wildcats scored 13 consecutive points to build a double-digit lead six minutes into the game. Auburn managed to whittle it down to 33-29 by halftime with back to back dunks by Kessler in the final 38 seconds.
“It doesn’t faze us when we get down,” Johnson said. “We just keep playing, we don’t get rattled. We just stay together and make the comeback.”
MORE GAME NOTES
• Kentucky shot 50 percent from the field, 29 of 58, but gave up its highest field-goal percentage of the season as Auburn shot 56.8% (25 of 44)
• Auburn’s work at the foul line was a difference-maker as the Tigers made 24 of 29. The Wildcats shot well at the charity stripe but got to the line only 10 times, making eight
Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers Week
Kentucky coaches and staff will wear sneakers on Tuesday vs. Mississippi State as a part of the annual Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers Week.
Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers Week is a nationwide event when basketball coaches across the country unite for a common cause – saving lives from cancer. Coaches and their staff across the nation wear sneakers with their suits during games to raise awareness and help save lives from cancer by raising funds and encouraging people to educate themselves about cancer prevention, screening and early detection.
The Coaches vs. Cancer program is a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches. This initiative leverages the personal experiences, community leadership, and professional excellence of coaches nationwide to increase cancer awareness and promote healthy living through year-round awareness efforts, fundraising activities, and advocacy programs. Since 1993, coaches have raised more than $100 million for the American Cancer Society.
