Tonight at 9 p.m. on ESPN’s Super Tuesday broadcast, the #2 Kentucky Wildcats and the Mississippi State Bulldogs square off in Starkville in a showdown of SEC division leaders. The Wildcats, 9-1 in the SEC, are leaders of the East, coming off a big win over rival Tennessee in Rupp Arena on Saturday, and riding a 5 game win streak. The Bulldogs, 6-4 in conference play, are tied atop the West, and are on a 2 game winning streak. Here are some numbers and facts of interest headed into tonight’s game:
A 4 Game Losing Streak To MSU?
Heading into tonight’s game, the Bulldogs have had Kentucky’s number the past few seasons, winning the last 3 meetings between the two schools. If Mississippi State were to win tonight’s game, it would be only the 8th time that UK has lost at least 4 games in a row to a SEC opponent, and only the 4th SEC school to accomplish the feat. Here are UK’s 7 previous occurrences of 4+ game losing streak to SEC opponents:
7 games, Florida (March 6th, 2005 to January 19th, 2008)
5 games, Tennessee (February 15th, 1975 to March 5th, 1977)
5 games, Tennessee (February 23rd, 1916 to March 3rd, 1917)
4 games, Vanderbilt (January 10th, 2006 to February 25th, 2007)
4 games, Tennessee (January 20th, 1979 to January 5th, 1980)
4 games, Vanderbilt (January 22nd, 1973 to March 2nd, 1974)
4 games, Tennessee (March 5th, 1966 to January 22nd, 1968)
John Wall In More Select Company
With John Wall’s stellar performance of 24 points, 3 assists, and 1 steal against the Volunteers Saturday night, he joined an extremely short list of Kentucky players. John Wall is now only the 3rd player in UK history to have at least 400 points, 150 assists, and 45 steals in a single season. Here are the 3 players stats in those given years:
John Wall, 2009-2010 (24 games): 407 points (17 PPG), 151 assists (6.3 APG), 45 steals (1.9 SPG)
Travis Ford, 1992-1993 (34 games): 463 points (13.6 PPG), 166 assists (4.9 APG), 56 steals (1.6 SPG)
Kyle Macy, 1979-1980 (35 games): 540 points (15.4 PPG), 163 assists (4.7 APG), 58 steals (1.7 SPG)
UK Living In The AP Top 5
In the newest release of the AP Poll on Monday, UK was ranked #2. It was the 15th AP Poll released this season and UK has been in the top 5 in every single release. UK has spent an entire season in the AP top 5 10 times before. Here are those 10 seasons and how those seasons ended:
1948-1949
- 6 weeks at #1, 2 weeks at #2
- Finished Season 32-2, NCAA Tournament National Champions
1950-1951
- 9 weeks at #1, 1 week at #2, 2 weeks at #3
- Finished Season 32-2, NCAA Tournament National Champions
1951-1952
- 8 weeks at #1, 1 week at #2, 3 weeks at #3, 1 week at #4
- Finished Season 29-3, NCAA Tournament Regional Finalist (Elite Eight)
1953-1954
- 10 weeks at #1, 5 weeks at #2
- Finished Season 25-0, Didn’t Participate in NCAA Tournament
1954-1955
- 7 weeks at #1, 7 weeks at #2
- Finished Season 23-3, NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinalist (Sweet Sixteen)
1958-1959
- 9 weeks at #1, 4 weeks at #2, 1 week at #3
- Finished Season 24-3, NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinalist (Sweet Sixteen)
1969-1970
- 6 weeks at #1, 7 weeks at #2, 2 weeks at #3
- Finished Season 26-2, NCAA Tournament Regional Finalist (Elite Eight)
1977-1978
- 14 weeks at #1, 2 weeks at #2, 1 week at #3
- Finished Season 30-2, NCAA Tournament National Champions
1992-1993
- 1 week at #1, 6 weeks at #2, 4 weeks at #3, 3 weeks at #4, 4 weeks at #5
- Finished Season 30-4, NCAA Tournament National Semifinalist (Final Four)
1995-1996
- 5 weeks at #1, 10 weeks at #2, 1 week at #4, 2 weeks at #5
- Finished Season 34-2, NCAA Tournament National Champions
UK’s Various Records vs. Mississippi State
UK’s overall record vs. Mississippi State: 84-20 (.808) (lost last 3 meetings, 6-4 last 10 meetings)
UK’s record vs. Mississippi State on the road: 30-12 (.714)
UK’s record vs. Mississippi State at Humphrey Coliseum: 16-9 (.640) (lost last meeting, 7-3 last 10 meetings)
UK’s record vs. Mississippi State when UK is ranked and Mississippi State is unranked: 49-4 (.925) (won last 2 meetings, 9-1 last 10 meetings)
UK’s longest win streak vs. Mississippi State: 17 games (February 18th, 1967 to March 8th, 1975 and February 1st, 1929 to February 13th, 1956)
UK’s longest losing streak vs. Mississippi State: 3 games (March 9th, 2007 to the present)
Other Various Records
UK’s overall record playing on February 16th: 15-5 (.750)
UK’s record playing Mississippi State on February 16th: 0-1 (.000) (February 16th, 1985, Kentucky – 69 Mississippi State – 82, Humphrey Coliseum)
Largest crowd to attend a Kentucky/Mississippi State game at Humphrey Coliseum: 10,432 (January 13th, 2004, #5 Kentucky – 67 #20 Mississippi State – 66)
Smallest crowd to attend a Kentucky/Mississippi State game at Humphrey Coliseum: 3,681 (January 27th, 1982, #7 Kentucky – 51 Mississippi State – 56)
RPI Rankings (As Of 11:30 P.M. February 15th)
Kentucky: 4th
Kentucky’s Strength Of Schedule: 63rd
Mississippi State: 58th
Mississippi’s State Strength Of Schedule: 119th
Pomeroy Ratings (As Of February 14th)
Kentucky: 11th
Kentucky’s Strength Of Schedule: 87th
Kentucky’s Non-Conference Strength Of Schedule: 183rd
Mississippi State: 39th
Mississippi State’s Strength Of Schedule: 110th
Mississippi State’s Non-Conference Strength Of Schedule: 254th
Sagarin Ratings (As Of February 15th)
Kentucky: 4th
Kentucky’s Strength Of Schedule: 87th
Mississippi State: 49th
Mississippi State’s Strength Of Schedule: 109th
Kentucky In The Top 30 In Team Statistics (As Of February 14th)
Assists Per Game: 30th (15.6)
Blocks Per Game: 6th (7)
Field Goal Percentage Defense: 10th (37.9%)
Field Goal Percentage: 11th (48.6%)
Rebounds Per Game: T-4th (42.2)
Offensive Rebounds Per Game: T-9th (15.1)
Defensive Rebounds Per Game: T-14th (27.1)
Rebound Margin: 1st (+10)
Scoring Margin: 7th (+16)
Scoring Offense: 8th (81.3)
Mississippi State In The Top 30 In Team Statistics (As Of February 14th)
Blocks Per Game: 2nd (8.2)
Field Goal Percentage Defense: 3rd (37%)
Fouls Per Game: 1st (13.6)
Rebounds Per Game: T-7th (41.4)
Defensive Rebounds Per Game: 1st (29.9)
Scoring Margin: 30th (+10.7)
3 Point Field Goals Made Per Game: 8th (9)
Kentucky Players In The Top 50 In Individual Statistics (As Of February 14th)
Assists Per Game: John Wall, 3rd (6.4)
Field Goal Percentage: Patrick Patterson, 12th (57.7%) DeMarcus Cousins, 29th (54.2%)
Rebounds Per Game: DeMarcus Cousins, 19th (10.2)
Offensive Rebounds Per Game: DeMarcus Cousins, 6th (4.4) Patrick Patterson, T-45th (3.4)
Points Per 40 Minutes: DeMarcus Cousins, T-2nd (28.2)
Turnovers Per
Game: John Wall, T-8th (4.1) Eric Bledsoe, T-43rd (3.5)
Mississippi State Players In The Top 50 In Individual Statistics (As Of February 14th)
Assists Per Game: Dee Bost, 39th (5.2)
Blocks Per Game: Jarvis Varnado, 2nd (5)
Rebounds Per Game: Jarvis Varnado, 5th (11.3)
Defensive Rebounds Per Game: Jarvis Varnado, 2nd (8.2)
3 Point Field Goal Percentage: Ravern Johnson, 14th (43%)
Kentucky Individual Game Records vs. Mississippi State
Points: 34, Jim Andrews (1/10/1972)
Rebounds: 21, Jim Andrews (2/12/1973)
Assists: 13, Dirk Minniefield (1/23/1980)
Steals: 8, Rajon Rondo (2/19/2005) (tied for most ever by a UK player)
Blocks: 6, Marquis Estill (1/5/2002)
Free Throws Made: 18, Dwight Anderson (2/12/1979) (most ever by a UK player)
Field Goals Made: 15, Dan Issel (1/5/1970)
3 Point Field Goals Made: 6, Derek Anderson (1/7/1997)
Mississippi State Individual Game Records vs. Kentucky
Points: 37, Bailey Howell (2/11/1957)
Rebounds: 18, Herb Biggs (2/11/1967)
Assists: 9, Al Perry (2/28/1977) Butch Pierre (2/25/1981) Chuck Evans (2/19/1992) Marcus Bullard (3/10/1996)
Steals: 5, Greg Lockhart (3/4/1989) Greg Carter (1/31/1990) Timmy Bowers (1/5/2002)
Blocks: 10, Jarvis Varnado (1/15/2008)
Free Throws Made: 14, Chuck Evans (2/19/1992)
Field Goals Made: 14, Jack Bouldin (2/8/1971)
3 Point Field Goals Made: 6, Darryl Wilson (1/22/1994) Marcus Grant (2/14/1995) Timmy Bowers (1/13/2004)
Memorable Game
February 9th, 1991
Humphrey Coliseum, Starkville, Mississippi (Attendance: 9,259)
#10 Kentucky – 82
Mississippi State – 83
This game was a heartbreaker on so many levels. For starters, the Wildcats were a ranked team in the AP Top 10, 17-4 record, and lost to an unranked Mississippi State squad with a 14-6 record. And the way Kentucky lost was the worst. With 6 seconds left and Mississippi State up 82-80, Bulldogs center Todd Merritt hits 1 of 2 free throws to go up 83-80. UK point guard Sean Woods takes the ball up the court and, instead of shooting a 3 or driving the lane and dishing out to a teammate to shoot a 3, he drives the lane for a layup as time expired as the Wildcats lost 83-82. Sean said after the game, “Human error, that’s all.” Woods was in tears after the game, knowing that he had let his team down on an honest, yet crucial mistake, not knowing the time AND score of the game. UK head coach Rick Pitino added, “Sean should have known. It’s human error. It can happen to any youngster in that situation.” The defeat was more deflating considering the Wildcats had comeback from a 12 point deficit midway through the 2nd half. Mississippi State won the game by hitting 3 of 6 free throws in the final 70 seconds to break an 80-80 tie. The unsung hero for Kentucky was walk-on and native Kentuckian Todd Bearup, he played his high school basketball at Laurel County. Todd had transferred to UK from Utah State and, coming into the MSU game, he had scored 4 points the entire season. But he took advantage of his 10 minutes in this game scoring a career-high 12 points, hitting 3 of 3 three point field goals. He went on to transfer to BYU after the season. Four other Wildcats scored in double figures, with Deron Feldhaus leading the team with 19 points. Sean Woods and freshman sensation Jamal Mashburn both scored 12 points and Reggie Hanson added 11 points. The Bulldogs were led in scoring by Tony Watts who scored 22 points. Four other Bulldogs scored in double figures with Todd Merritt getting a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds. Cameron Burns and Greg Carter scored 13 points each and Doug Hartsfield added 11 points. Amazingly, and sad but true, this was the 3rd straight season that Kentucky lost to Mississippi State by 1 point down in Starkville at the Humphrey Coliseum. The Wildcats lost 68-67 on March 4th, 1989 and 87-86 on January 31st, 1990.
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