< Previous10 @KentuckyMBBIt's Easy to SAVE with the Kroger App Score big with weekly sales and digital coupons Official Grocery Partner of UK AthleticsWEEKNIGHTS 7:30 p.m. SATURDAY 9:00 a.m.KENTUCKY BASKETBALL 14 @KentuckyMBB From Press Row Last Time Out: Mississippi State Recap No. 16 Kentucky found itself in a tough spot at Mississippi State on Tuesday night. Early in the second half, the Cats trailed 52- 39 and appeared to be headed for another road loss in the Southeastern Conference. Luckily for the Cats, freshman Reed Sheppard had other ideas. The London, Kentucky, native scored 23 of his career high 32 points in the second half, includ- ing the game-winning runner with less than a second remaining, as Kentucky rallied to win 91-89 inside Humphrey Coliseum. Sheppard did it all for the Cats on Tues- day. In addition to his scoring, he had sev- en assists, five rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals, including one on MSU’s fi- nal possession, thwarting any opportunity for a final shot for the Bulldogs. Kentucky (20-8, 10-5 SEC) got 21 points from Antonio Reeves, his 16th 20-point game of the season and his fourth in a row. Adou Thiero scored 11 points and D.J. Wagner had 10 for the Cats. Mississippi State (19-9, 8-7) started the game hot, jumping out to a 14-3 lead, in- cluding 11 consecutive points. UK got a dunk from Zvonimir Ivisic, then a Justin Ed- wards layup, cutting the deficit to 14-7. A Sheppard three made it 14-10. MSU stretched the lead to 21-14 before Sheppard hit another three to make it 21- 17. After an MSU three-point play, Thiero hit a three from the right corner to cut it to 24-20. MSU added two free throws before a Thiero dunk. After a Tolu Smith bucket for state, Reeves hit a three to get the Cats within three, 28-25. Another Smith layup made it 30-25 be- fore Sheppard hit his third three of the first half to make it 30-28. The teams would trade baskets before MSU ran off five in a row to lead 37-30 with 2:50 left in the half. A Reeves bucket cut it to 37-32 but D.J. Jef- fries and Josh Hubbard hit threes to give the Bulldogs a 43-32 advantage. UK got a Wagner three late in the half but MSU led 43-35 at the break. MSU scored the first five points of the second half before Kentucky got a Reeves jumper and a Thiero layup to make it 47- 39. However, the Bulldogs scored the next five and led 52-39, forcing a UK timeout. The Cats would answer out of the stop- page in play. Rob Dillingham hit a pair of free throws, then assisted on a Thiero dunk. A driving basket by Reeves cut the deficit to 52-45 with 16:35 remaining. Mississippi State scored the next four to extend the lead to 56-45 before Shep- pard drove to the basket and made a layup. On the next UK possession, Reeves hit a three, making it 56-50. After an MSU bas- ket, Reeves made a shot and was fouled. He converted the three-point play to make it 58-53. The Bulldogs would extend the lead to 60-53 before Sheppard drove to the bas- ket, made the shot and was fouled. His three-point play got UK within four, 60- 56. A Thiero dunk got the Cats within two, 60-58. But Smith scored for the Bulldogs, making it 62-58 with 10:25 remaining. After a couple of empty possessions for both teams, Sheppard hit a floater to get the Cats within two, 62-60. MSU answered with another Smith basket but Sheppard hit a three to cut it to one, 64-63 with 7:29 to play. The Bulldogs scored the next five be- fore Reeves hit a basket and Sheppard got a steal and a layup, making it 69-67. Af- ter an MSU basket, the Cats got two free throws from Wagner and a three from Dil- lingham to lead for the first time, 72-71, with 4:24 remaining. The next time down, Dillingham hit Bradshaw for a dunk, giv- ing UK a 74-71 lead. Smith would get MSU within one on a putback basket but a Dillingham layup made it 76-73 with 1:56 to play. A pair of free throws got the Bulldogs within one but Sheppard answered with a basket in the lane, then a layup and free throw, giv- ing UK an 81-75 advantage with 1:10 re- maining. Two Dillingham free throws made it 83-75 before a Hubbard three cut it to 83- 78 with 50 seconds to play. Reeves hit two free throws before Hubbard hit another three, cutting it to 85-81 with 43 seconds left. Sheppard hit two free throws to extend the lead to six but MSU scored the next five to make it 87-86 with 20 seconds to play. Sheppard hit two more free throws with 16 seconds to play, making it 89-86. Hubbard tied the game on a three with 10 seconds to play, setting the stage for Shep- pard’s heroics. UK Hall of Famer Tubby Smith Named 2024 SEC Legend University of Kentucky Hall of Famer and National Championship coach, Orlan- do “Tubby” Smith will represent the Wild- cats as a member of the 2024 Southeastern Conference Legends class at the SEC Tour- nament in Nashville, Tennessee. Past greats from all 14 SEC member institutions will be honored at the league tournament at Bridgestone Arena. Each leg- end will be recognized during halftime of their team’s first game of the tournament, as well as a group introduction at halftime of the first semifinal game on Saturday. Smith was head coach at Kentucky for 10 seasons, from 1998-2007, guiding the Wildcats to one national championship, five SEC regular-season crowns and five SEC Tournament titles. He compiled a re- cord of 263-83 at UK, winning 76% of his games while taking on a schedule annu- ally ranked among the nation’s toughest. He was named National Coach of the Year three times and SEC Coach of the Year three times during his term in Lexington.Thank You to Our CORNERSTONE PARTNERSNEKENTUCKY BASKETBALL 18 @KentuckyMBB Around the SEC Around the Country 2023-24 SEC Standings and Statistics Team SEC Overall Home Road Tennessee 12-3 22-6 14-1 6-3 Alabama 12-3 20-8 13-1 5-4 South Carolina 11-4 23-5 13-2 7-3 Auburn 10-5 21-7 13-1 4-5 Florida 10-5 20-8 13-1 3-5 Kentucky 10-5 20-8 12-4 6-3 Mississippi State 8-7 19-9 11-3 2-6 LSU 7-8 15-13 11-5 2-6 Ole Miss 6-9 19-9 14-3 3-6 Texas A&M 6-9 15-13 9-5 4-6 Georgia 5-10 15-13 11-5 4-5 Arkansas 5-10 14-14 10-6 2-5 Vanderbilt 3-12 8-20 7-9 1-8 Missouri 0-15 8-20 6-9 2-9 Scoring Player-Team ...................................................................PPG Dalton Knecht, UT ........................................................20.8 Mark Sears, ALA ............................................................20.6 Antonio Reeves, UK ......................................................19.9 Wade Taylor IV, TAMU ...................................................18.7 Sean East II, MIZZOU ....................................................17.2 Rebounding Player-Team ...................................................................RPG Andersson Garcia, TAMU ................................................9.5 Johni Broome, AUB .........................................................8.6 Tyrese Samuel, UF ...........................................................7.9 Jonas Aidoo, UT ..............................................................7.6 Micah Handlogten, UF ....................................................7.6 Assists Player-Team ...................................................................APG Zakai Zeigler, UT .............................................................5.9 Zyon Pullin, UF ...............................................................4.9 Aaron Estrada, ALA ..........................................................4.5 Ta'Lon Cooper, SC ...........................................................4.4 Reed Sheppard, UK .........................................................4.3 Steals Player-Team ...................................................................SPG Reed Sheppard, UK .........................................................2.7 Cameron Matthews, MISS ST ...........................................2.1 Wade Taylor IV, TAMU .....................................................2.0 Zakai Zeigler, UT .............................................................2.0 Jordan Wright, LSU ..........................................................1.8 Blocks Player-Team ...................................................................BPG Jamarion Sharp, MISS ......................................................2.3 Johni Broome, AUB .........................................................2.3 Jonas Aidoo, UT ..............................................................1.9 Grant Nelson, ALA ..........................................................1.6 Moussa Cisse, MISS .........................................................1.5 2023-24 Associated Press Rankings As of February 26, 2024 (week 17) Team Record Points 1 Houston (53) 24-3 1540 2 Purdue (4) 25-3 1460 3 UConn (5) 25-3 1459 4 Tennessee 21-6 1338 5 Marquette 21-6 1243 6 Arizona 21-6 1188 7 Kansas 21-6 1156 8 Iowa State 21-6 1155 9 North Carolina 21-6 1130 10 Duke 21-6 976 11 Auburn 21-6 862 12 Creighton 20-8 738 13 Illinois 20-7 726 14 Alabama 19-8 695 15 Baylor 19-8 689 16 Kentucky 19-8 649 17 Saint Mary's 23-6 646 18 South Carolina 22-5 471 19 Washington State 21-7 361 20 San Diego State 21-7 305 21 Dayton 21-5 261 22 Utah State 22-5 207 23 Gonzaga 22-6 184 24 Florida 19-8 140 25 South Florida 21-5 127We’re your Shield. 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