No. 16 Kentucky makes it look easy in 83-60 win over No. 14 Mississippi State

There was a lot of pink on the floor Thursday night at Humphrey Coliseum for Southeastern Conference’s annual Think Pink breast cancer awareness game.

Pink uniforms, pink shoes, pink headbands on both teams.

And there probably was a lot of swigging of pink liquid Mississippi State’s Vic Schafer after his team’s loss.

The coach no doubt had a sour stomach after watching No. 16 Kentucky throttle No. 14 Mississippi State 83-60, the Bulldogs’ worst loss of the season.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had people walking out of The Hump with a lot of time left and I wanted to go with them,” Schaefer said. “I’m embarrassed. I’m very disappointed.”

For Kentucky, its third straight victory felt like a breakthrough.

Against a team that was among the best in the SEC at getting to the free-throw line and pulling down offensive rebounds, the Cats won both statistical categories handily.

“Those are hustle stats,” Coach Matthew Mitchell noted of the Cats’ 49-34 advantage in rebounding and their eight more trips to the free-throw line. “I’m really proud they won because you have to hustle to do it.”

Kentucky (18-6, 7-6 SEC) trailed just one time in the first 17 seconds and then never looked back, extending its lead to 10 points early.

“Coach has been emphasizing toughness, and we wanted to out-tough them,” said freshman Maci Morris, who matched her career-high with 17 points and four rebounds. “We came out and just gave it our all, and it worked for us.”

On film, UK had seen so many instances in losses this season where the effort wasn’t there. “We’ve watched ourselves literally get out-toughed,” said Makayla Epps, who had 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists. “We didn’t want it to happen again.”

UK got tired of loose balls and rebounds ending up in the wrong hands, and did something about it, handing the Bulldogs just their second loss at home this season. State is 30-2 in home games the past two seasons.

“I just can’t tell you how hard this team’s been working,” said Mitchell, whose Cats won their third straight game. “A night like tonight has been building for a while. I’m really happy for them. They’ve worked their tails off.”

That was evident, said Schaefer, whose Bulldogs now have lost 10 in a row to Kentucky.

“They came in and played like they had something to prove,” Schaefer said. “They played with an edge. ... I thought they really took the fight to us tonight and outplayed us in every facet.”

After Mississippi State (21-6, 8-5) pulled within two points, 30-28, during the second quarter, UK went on a 7-2 run to close out the half. Five straight came from Taylor Murray, who had 11 points at the break and finished with 13 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Even with leading scorer Epps out of the game for much of the third quarter, the UK lead ballooned to as many as 19 points as the Cats held the Bulldogs scoreless for more than five minutes.

The Bulldogs missed 15 of their 19 shot attempts in the third quarter and managed just 10 points in that decisive quarter.

“They were doing whatever they wanted,” Mississippi State’s Dominique Dillingham said of Kentucky, which shot 44.8 percent for the game, including 58.3 percent in the third quarter.

The Cats’ 83 points were the most they’ve scored in league play and the most they’ve managed since Dec. 2. Their nine turnovers were the fewest this season. It was the second straight game that UK has had 10 or fewer miscues.

The Bulldogs were without leading scorer Victoria Vivians, second in the league in scoring, for the final 13:30 of the first half after she picked up a quick early foul.

Then, out of frustration with her play, the MSU coach left the sophomore star out of the game. She was held to a season-low seven points, making just three of her 11 shot attempts.

Breanna Richardson led the Bulldogs with 13 points and six rebounds. Kayla Nevitt added 12 points.

For the Cats, Alexis Jennings added 12 points and seven rebounds. Evelyn Akhator had eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

This story was originally published February 18, 2016 at 6:11 PM with the headline "No. 16 Kentucky makes it look easy in 83-60 win over No. 14 Mississippi State."