UK POSTGAME NOTES: UK Drops To Mississippi State 74-73 in SEC Tournament
- KySportsStyle.com
- Mar 11, 2021
- 4 min read
Compiled by UK Athletics
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.
o 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.
o 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.
o Both of his 23-point games this season came against Mississippi State.
o He made 6 of 13 on 3-pointers, including draining his first 3 since Feb. 13 vs. Auburn.
o 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.
o 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.
o He averaged 16.7 points over the last six games.
o He dished out 23 assists over the last three games, the best three-game stretch of his career.
· Oliver 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.
o 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.
o 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.
o 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.
o It’s just the eighth time in 27 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.
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 margin.
o 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.
o 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.
o Lance Ware, Devin Askew and Keion Brooks Jr. were the first substitutes at the 15:58 mark.
o 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.
o 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.
o Other than one 3-pointer, all of MSU’s points came in the paint or at the free throw line.
o 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.
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