It's raining three's when Cats and Dogs get together: Kentucky Wildcats outlast Mississippi State Bulldogs 85-79

Last year, the Kentucky Wildcats and the Mississippi State Bulldogs gave us two “instant classic” games for the ages.  Who can forget the intense “Call Me” game at Starkville or the thrilling Cousins put back of a missed free throw to force overtime in the SEC Tournament?  Well, this year’s version will be as memorable , but for the sheer absurdity of it all.

First, we had the horrible “sky view” of the game that ESPN “treated” viewers to which gave viewers at home a very real sense of motion sickness.  Then came the incredible disinterest of playing any type of defense whatsoever by the Bulldogs Renardo Sidney.  Sidney spent most of his time in the paint just standing there with his hands on his knees catching his breath and was the subject of castigation by the ESPN announcers.  And then we have one of the biggest mental meltdowns by a team in … well, we will get to that in a few.

In the beginning, it was Kentucky starting out sluggish and disinterested as a quick 5-0 MSU run necessitated a timeout by John Calipari just :27 into the game.  A Jalen Steele 3-pointer gave the Bulldogs a 10-4 lead and it looked like a long night for Kentucky.  Kentucky closed the gap to one, but the Bulldogs went on a run thanks to a pair of Raven John 3-point plays, one of those being nailing three FT’s in a row.  A 3-point play by Sidney of the “and one” variety gave the Bulldogs a 24-13 lead with 10:39 left in the first half.  Kentucky got back into the game thanks to five straight points by Josh Harrellson and two quick three pointers by Darius Miller.  The second Miller trey cut the lead to 31-28 with 5:20 left.

Kentucky actually cut the lead to one on a couple of occasions but the Bulldogs did a good job of building a five point lead with just a couple of seconds left in the half.  Kentucky got the ball in place for a desperation shot about 45 feet out when Brandon Knight was inexplicably fouled in the act of shooting and awarded three free throws.  This set off Rick Stansbury, who was slapped with a technical and Knight got five FT’s right at the half.  He sank four of them, and Kentucky went in at half down just one, at 40-39.

Kentucky scored the first four points of the second half and seemed to be building on the momentum of MSU’s meltdown, but nothing has been easy this year.  Jalen Steele and Dee Bost nailed three’s to give the Bulldogs a 48-43 lead.  The tide turned the next couple of minutes as Dee Bost turned the ball over on back to back possessions and Darius Miller scored five straight points, staking Kentucky to a 58-50 lead with 13:41 remaining.

There was a potential for disaster when Terrence Jones got his fourth foul and Doron Lamb his third in a span of three seconds with Kentucky up 62-55 with 9:56 left.  Jalen Steele made two quick three pointers and cut the lead to 65-63 with 8:03 remaining and it looked to be an intense finish.  A Josh Harrellson dunk extended the lead to 69-63 and then the floodgates opened and Kentucky started raining threes.  Doron Lamb, Darius Miller, Brandon Knight, and Lamb again nailed treys in the span of about 2:00 and Kentucky was up 80-67 with about 4:40 remaining.  The Wildcats suffered a couple of defensive lapses and Ravern Johnson scored five straight Bulldog points to close the gap to 83-79 with :40 left, but that was the end of the comeback magic and Kentucky got  FT’s from Jones and Lamb to make the final margin 85-79.

For the game, it was something of a shooter’s paradise as booth teams combined for 21 3-pointers on 44 attempts.  The Bulldogs were especially hot as they hit 12-22 treys, but that was overshadowed by Kentucky shooting 56.1% for the game.  In case you are keeping track, Mississippi State has made 32 3-pointers in the three games against John Calipari, yet Kentucky is 3-0.  As crisp as Kentucky’s offense was, it was still sloppy at times and allowed too many open three pointers.  Kentucky also made it a point to run as much as they could and the result was a fatigued Sidney which often left Kentucky with a five on four advantage.

After a slow start, Brandon Knight answered the call as to who was going to be the leader as he had perhaps his best overall night, tallying 24 points and 7 assists.  He also delivered three treys.  Darius Miller was assertive and took those shots with authority tonight instead of passing off and had three treys as well and had 13 points.  Doron Lamb was on fire, hitting 7-8 tonight and finishing with 20 points.  And Terrence Jones showed off his unselfish self, with 17 points, 10 boards, and 5 assists.  Late in the game, Jones was still making the passes in lieu of an easy two points for him.  Josh Harrellson showed a nasty side on defense with back to back blocks in a key stretch.

And most importantly, the smiles were back on the faces of the Kentucky players.  They were having fun tonight and the win was actually much easier than the final score indicated.  They proved they can come back from 11 down, which has to be a huge confidence builder for this team.  And tonight’s game was fun to watch.  For tonight, Kentucky played as a team, and it was evident they are a different team when they do so.

For complete game stats, go here. 

Keep following www.http://wildcatbluenation.com for the best in Kentucky basketball and football news, rumors, and opinions. By Kentucky fans for Kentucky fans