Five things you need to know from Kentucky’s 74-73 loss to Mississippi State
Five things you need to know from the Kentucky Wildcats’ 74-73 loss to the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the men’s SEC Tournament second round at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena:
1. Kentucky’s season dies in the Wildcats’ season-long Bermuda Triangle. After trailing by 14 at halftime and 15 early in the second half, UK stormed back behind a 35-15 rampage to take a 71-66 lead on a Davion Mintz three-pointer with 4:30 left.
UK seemed to have all the momentum — but closing out games has been Kentucky’s kryptonite all season.
This was no different.
With both teams playing for their seasons, Mississippi State’s Iverson Molinar — the kind of playmaking guard Kentucky sorely lacked this season — took over the game.
A Molinar three-pointer with 3:07 left brought MSU within 71-69.
Another Molinar trey at 2:17 put State up 72-71.
An Olivier Sarr jumper with 1:18 left gave Kentucky back the lead 73-72, but Molinar answered again. He cashed a pair of free throws after being fouled by Isaiah Jackson on a drive with 7.1 seconds left to give the Bulldogs the victory.
Kentucky ended its season having lost four one-point games and with a 4-8 record in games decided by five points or less.
2. UK no-showed the first half. For a team that traveled to Nashville knowing it had to win the SEC Tournament to extend its season, Kentucky got off to a shockingly listless start.
Led by 6-foot-11, 255-pound Abdul Ado (14 first-half points) and 6-10, 245-pound Tolu Smith (nine first-half points, seven first-half rebounds), Mississippi State outscored UK by a staggering 36-12 in the paint in the first half.
3. Dontaie Allen’s Mississippi State encore. In UK’s 78-73, double-overtime victory over MSU in Starkville on Jan. 2, the ex-Pendleton County standout lit up the night. Allen went for 23 points, hitting eight of 13 shots, seven of 11 three-pointers.
In the rematch, Allen did it again.
The Kentucky redshirt freshman wing scored 23 points, 20 in the second half, and ignited UK’s second-half charge.
For the game, Allen hit eight of 15 shots, six of 13 treys.
Yet, in a season when Kentucky struggled so to close, Allen could not finish an epic performance with a Hollywood ending.
His potential game-winning three-point attempt from the deep right wing just ahead of the final buzzer was on line — but clanged hard off the back rim.
Allen entered the SEC Tournament having made only two of 18 shots, two of 15 three-pointers, over UK’s final nine regular-season games.
The 2019 Kentucky Mr. Basketball was more than a stand-still shooter Thursday in Nashville. He scored in the lane off the dribble. He created a scoring opportunity for Lance Ware off dribble penetration. Defensively, Allen had two steals.
Looking to the future, that’s an encouraging thing for Allen — and for those Wildcats fans who crave more Kentuckians playing larger roles for UK basketball teams.
4. Another UK win streak bites the dust. Mississippi State’s victory snapped a 15-game losing streak vs. the Wildcats. It is MSU’s first win over a John Calipari-coached UK team.
It was not a good season for the Wildcats and long winning streaks vs. conference foes.
Earlier this season, Georgia (14 straight losses) and Mississippi (11 consecutive defeats) also snapped extended skids vs. Kentucky.
5. UK paid a premium for wins in 2020-21. According to the annual USA Today survey of college basketball coaching salaries, John Calipari was the highest-paid coach in the country this year with total compensation of $8,095,800.
After finishing its season 9-16, Kentucky paid its head coach $899,533.33 per victory this season.
That figure probably makes Duke — whose season was ended at 14-11 Thursday by a positive COVID-19 test that forced the Blue Devils to withdraw from the ACC Tournament — feel better about the $503,158.64 per victory it paid the second-highest-paid coach, Mike Krzyzewski, in 2020-21.
This story was originally published March 11, 2021 at 2:24 PM.
