Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s overtime win over Mississippi State
Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 82-74 overtime win over Mississippi State on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena.
1. Let’s talk about the five minutes of overtime
We’ll cover Kentucky’s blown 15-point lead in the second takeaway. Let’s first concentrate on the overtime, when UK bounced back from a 72-72 tie to outscore the Bulldogs 10-2 over the final five minutes.
Kellan Grady scored UK’s first eight points. It had not been a particularly stellar night for the Davidson transfer. Grady clanged seven of his nine three-point attempts in regulation. But less than two minutes into overtime, he scored on a reverse layup off a baseline drive to put the Cats up 74-72.
“For a shooter, sometime it’s just seeing the ball go through the net,” he said afterward. “I think I hit my next two after that.”
He did, indeed. The first three-pointer, from the left of the key, snapped a 74-74 tie with 2:21 left in OT. Grady’s second triple came with 1:28 left to put the Cats up 80-74. It would turn out to be all the cushion Kentucky needed.
Oscar Tshiebwe saw to that. The UK center ended up with 21 points and 22 rebounds. The 21st board was huge. When Sahvir Wheeler missed the second of two free throws with 37.4 seconds left, Oscar grabbed the offensive rebound. That sent Wheeler back to the line where he again hit the first free throw and missed the second with 29 seconds left. UK’s lead was 82-74 and the Cats were on the way to 6-2 in the conference.
“We’re going to Kansas and they’ve played in a lot of close games,” Calipari said. “We needed (this) game.”
2. Now let’s talk about the final 10 minutes of regulation
Actually, Grady said it best. “Let’s be frank, our last 10 minutes of the game was atrocious. Borderline. Not good.”
Kentucky was in control, up 53-38 with 12:24 left when Mississippi State went on a 9-0 run to chop the lead to six at 53-47 with 9:25 remaining. When the Cats stretched the lead back out to 10 points at 57-47, State went on a 7-2 run to pull within 59-57 with 5:53 left. Suddenly, we had a possession-by-possession game.
The Bulldogs tied the game at 62 on two free throws by former UK commit D.J. Jeffries with 4:16 remaining. It was tied at 64 when the terrific Iverson Molinar scored a basket inside to give him 20 points on the night. (He finished with 30.) And Molinar made two free throws with 22.2 left to send the game into overtime.
“I think overtime gave us a chance to reset,” Grady said.
What went wrong in those final 10 minutes? Grady said the Cats were playing not to lose. The offense turned stagnant, he said. But give credit to Molinar. The 6-foot-3 guard from Panama has now scored 20 or more points in four of Mississippi State’s last five games. He made 13 of 20 shots on Tuesday. And he nearly pulled off what would have been a huge upset for the Bulldogs, who were playing without center Tolu Smith. State is now 4-3 in the SEC.
3. We don’t have to tell you there’s a big game Saturday
The SEC/Big 12 Challenge is Saturday. Kentucky heads to Lawrence for a 6 p.m. game with fifth-ranked Kansas. The rivalry renewed. The Jayhawks are 17-2 overall after their 94-91 double overtime thriller of a win over Texas Tech on Monday night. Allen Fieldhouse will be rocking.
Will TyTy Washington be making the trip? UK’s star freshman did not play Tuesday because of the ankle injury he suffered in the Cats’ 80-71 loss at Auburn on Saturday. Calipari joked that he asked Washington, “Are you going to play this month?” The coach then said he left that up to the trainers. “The answer is I don’t know,” Calipari said.
Meanwhile, Jacob Toppin slipped on the floor and took a hard fall midway through the second half. When he was finally helped to his feet, the 6-8 forward limped to the bench and then to the locker room. Toppin did return, however. In fact, Calipari had Toppin guarding Molinar in overtime.
“I thought he blew out his Achilles,” Calipari said. “But he came back and I put him on the guy we had to stop.”
Tshiebwe also disappeared to the locker room for a second-half stretch. He did return. Thank goodness. Afterward, the center said his locker room visit was to get his ankle re-taped. He said Toppin was getting his ankle re-taped at the same time. “I’m good,” Tshiebwe said.
You know who else was good? Dontaie Allen. With Washington out and Wheeler benched with two first half fouls, Calipari called on the sophomore who scored 23 points not once but twice against Mississippi State last season.
Allen responded. He scored five points and grabbed three rebounds in 18 minutes. He was but one of five from three-point range, but he had a terrific putback dunk in the first half, his first basket since Nov. 29, 2021.
Said Grady, “When I saw him come out of left field to make that putback dunk, which is something I’d never seen him do, I knew he was locked in.”
“Dontaie plays well against those guys,” Calipari said. “I don’t know why, but he does.”
