Three takeaways from Kentucky’s SEC Tournament win over Mississippi State
It’s safe to say that Kentucky will be going dancing this spring.
While nothing is official until March 13, the Wildcats all but secured their spot in the NCAA Tournament by winning their opening game in the SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Thursday night.
UK’s 83-67 triumph over Mississippi State was marked by another breakout performance by freshman guard Jada Walker, who tied her career-high with 21 points and was one of five Kentucky players to score in double digits.
There was significantly less drama in this game than the last time UK and MSU met, but the result was the same: A Kentucky victory that brings Kyra Elzy’s team that much closer to completing a remarkable late-season turnaround with a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
“Just being more locked in and more focused,” Rhyne Howard said of the difference between the two games UK has played against Mississippi State this season. “We knew what happened last time and we didn’t want that to be the case (again) because the tournament is a new slate, it’s a new season. You won’t always be able to come back from down 15 against any SEC team, but especially in the tournament.”
Kentucky 83, Mississippi State 67
The star: Freshman guard Jada Walker was phenomenal at both ends for UK, recording 21 points and eight rebounds while going 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.
The stats: Joining Walker in double-digits scoring for UK were Dre’una Edwards, (18) Rhyne Howard (14), Jazmine Massnegill and Robyn Benton (both with 12).
Despite sitting for the entire second quarter, Edwards finished with a double-double: 18 points and 14 rebounds. It was Edwards’ 10th double-double of the season.
Mississippi State was led in scoring by Jerkaila Jordan (21) and Caterrion Thompson (19).
The status: Kentucky is 16-11 overall and 9-8 against SEC schools. The Cats have won seven straight games. Mississippi State now has a 15-14 overall record and a 6-11 mark against SEC schools.
Three takeaways
1. UK TOOK CONTROL EARLY AND NEVER LET UP.
Before Thursday, Kentucky and Mississippi State’s lone meeting of the season was Feb. 15 in Lexington.
UK trailed by 15 points with less than seven minutes to go in that game, but the Wildcats finished on a 24-2 scoring run to stun Mississippi State and continue the Cats’ late-season push for the postseason.
Things were a bit calmer in the final period this time in the SEC Tournament.
UK took the lead for good with 7:02 left in the second quarter, entering the fourth quarter with a 13-point lead.
No last-minute heroics were needed this time as UK all but secured its spot in the NCAA Tournament with a comfortable win that saw Kentucky out-rebound MSU, 47-25.
“We went into the game saying ‘We had to own the boards,’” Elzy said. “We had to make sure that we rebounded by committee. I really challenged the guards. ‘You can’t stand, you have to go help us rebound.’”
Kentucky’s backcourt players (Robyn Benton, Emma King, Massengill and Walker) combined for 19 of UK’s 47 rebounds.
After making three three-pointers during the first quarter, MSU, which led 21-16 after the opening period, didn’t make another three-pointer for the rest of the game.
2. RHYNE HOWARD AND JADA WALKER STEP UP
Rhyne Howard and Jada Walker were two of the main catalysts for what can be called Kentucky’s most important win of the season.
Howard led all first-half scorers with 14 points and Walker also reached double-figures scoring before halftime with 10. And somewhat surprisingly at halftime, it was Walker — who broke her nose in Sunday’s Senior Day win over Auburn and played Thursday while wearing a clear, protective face mask — and not Howard who led Kentucky in rebounding with six.
“I don’t think (the mask) affected my play, but it was an adjustment for me just because I’m not used to wearing something on my face while playing,” Walker said.
Both of their contributions, especially in the first half, were more important than usual as Dre’una Edwards — UK’s second-leading scorer and leading rebounder — sat the entire second quarter with two fouls.
Walker was just as effective after the break, scoring five of UK’s first seven points in the third quarter.
Howard finished Thursday’s win with totals of 14 points, four assists and three rebounds, while Walker posted 21 points, eight rebounds and two assists.
The leading performances came just days after the duo were honored with end-of-season SEC awards.
As voted by SEC coaches, Howard was named to the All-SEC First Team for the fourth straight season while Walker was named to the All-Freshman Team.
Howard became just the second player in the last 14 years to earn four First Team honors in the SEC (South Carolina’s A’ja Wilson), and Howard is the only Kentucky women’s basketball player to ever accomplish this.
Walker is the 18th player in program history to earn SEC All-Freshman Team honors.
“I definitely think my confidence has grown a lot,” Walker said of her freshman year progression. “I got more comfortable with the different types of teams and physicality.”
With all that said, Edwards was still able to return from foul trouble and post a gaudy line of 18 points and 14 rebounds in just 23 minutes played.
“Dre can do that whenever,” Howard said. “She can put the ball in the basket and we are going to give it to her every time she’s down there, on the perimeter, she can score at all three levels. We trust her to make the right decision like she does. . . . She believes in us so we believe in her.”
3. KENTUCKY LIKELY CLINCHED NCAA SPOT.
Nothing is official until March 13, when the 68-team NCAA Tournament bracket will be revealed at 8 p.m. on ESPN.
But Kentucky’s win over Mississippi State basically confirmed the Wildcats will be dancing this season.
In his most recent bracketology, ESPN’s Charlie Creme had Kentucky as the sixth-to-last team in the NCAA Tournament field, avoiding the First Four in the process.
Since that bracketology was released on Tuesday morning, two teams in the Last Four In (Boston College and Missouri) have lost.
Furthermore, UK has important wins over other teams floating around the NCAA Tournament bubble according to Creme: Missouri, Mississippi State (twice) and Arkansas, a projected No. 10 seed that beat Missouri in the second round of the SEC Tournament.
What can now be called a likely NCAA Tournament berth for Kentucky completes a remarkable turnaround for the Cats, who found themselves two games below .500 overall and six games below .500 in SEC play as recently as Feb. 12.
Kentucky has now won seven straight games, the team’s longest winning streak with Elzy as head coach.
It’s also the first time UK has won seven straight games against SEC teams since the 2015-16 season.
It’s come at the perfect time to save the season and extend Howard’s career.
“It just boosts my confidence a lot to keep myself going and keep my teammates going,” Howard said. “It’s great to be on this run, especially with how we started out. A lot of people had doubted us, but now it’s like, ‘They might be able to do this. They might be able to do that.’”
Up next
After Thursday’s win, Kentucky was three wins away from an SEC Tournament title, an honor the Cats haven’t held since 1982. Next up for UK was a meeting with LSU in the quarterfinals on Friday night. The Tigers were in attendance on Thursday night, taking in Kentucky’s win over Mississippi State in person. The Tigers are projected to be a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament by ESPN’s Charlie Creme, and the Tigers are also the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament.
LSU features an All-SEC First Team selection in Khayla Pointer (18.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5 assists per game) and an All-SEC Second Team choice in Alexis Morris (15.8 points per game and 4.2 rebounds per game).
“Khayla Pointer’s what I’m having nightmares about right now,” Elzy said looking ahead to Friday’s game, while noting that Pointer scored 28 points on UK earlier this season.
SEC Tournament scores, schedule
At Bridgestone Arena in Nashville
All times Eastern
Wednesday
No. 13 Vanderbilt 85, No. 12 Texas A&M 69
No. 11 Alabama 75, No. 14 Auburn 68
Thursday
No. 8 Arkansas 61, No. 9 Missouri 52
No. 5 Florida 53, No. 13 Vanderbilt 52
No. 7 Kentucky 83, No. 10 Mississippi State 67
No. 11 Alabama 74, No. 6 Georgia 62
Friday
1 p.m.: No. 1 South Carolina 76, No. 8 Arkansas 54
About 3:25 p.m.: No. 4 Ole Miss 70, No. 5 Florida 60
7 p.m.: No. 2 LSU (25-4) vs. No. 7 Kentucky (16-11)
About 9:25 p.m.: No. 3 Tennessee (22-7) vs. No. 11 Alabama (17-12)
Saturday
5 p.m.: No. 1 South Carolina (28-1) vs. No. 4 Ole Miss (23-7)
About 7:25 p.m.: Second semifinal
Sunday
2 p.m.: Championship game
TV
▪ Quarterfinals (SEC Network)
▪ Semifinals (ESPNU)
▪ Championship game (ESPN2)
This story was originally published March 3, 2022 at 9:07 PM.
