Video: Kentucky Pulls Away with Late Second Half Rally to Top Mississippi State

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WCBI/MSU Athletics) – Mississippi State turned in a solid effort on the road but fell short at Kentucky.

A game-ending 27-13 run lifted the Wildcats to a 78-65 victory Tuesday night at Rupp Arena.

Quinndary Weatherspoon led the Bulldogs with 19 points, while Nick Weatherspoon had 10 points. Aric Holman added six rebounds and three blocked shots for the Bulldogs. Quinndary Weatherspoon just missed a double-double with nine rebounds and six assists. Lamar Peters had five assists.

Kentucky improved to 16-5 overall and 5-3 in league play, while MSU fell to 14-6 and 2-5.

“We played with a lot of heart and energy,” MSU coach Ben Howland said. “We didn’t attack the zone well the last 10 minutes of the game. We had four turnovers at the half but made seven in the second half. We attacked the zone early in the game well. Our big men need to be more aggressive.

“Q played extremely well tonight. He gave us 31 minutes. We had some foul trouble and that hurt us there late in the game.”

For a second-straight game, the Bulldogs took a road SEC contest down to the final minutes. After a nip-and-tuck 32 minutes, the Bulldogs held their last lead 58-52.

A 4-point play by Tyson Carter brought the Bulldogs within 68-63 with 3:15 left.

The Bulldogs built an early 11-6 lead on a pair of free throws by Abdul Ado. Kentucky pulled even at 15 before a 3-pointer by Tyson Carter gave the Bulldogs another lead.

The lead switched hands a couple of times before Kentucky built a seven-point lead. MSU finished the half strong, trailing 38-36 at the break.

A layup by Peters gave the Bulldogs a 42-40 lead. Peters scored again later to build a 52-49 lead.

The Wildcats scored the next six points to take the lead for good.

For the contest, MSU hit 26 of 67 shots from the field (38.8 percent), 5 of 29 shots from 3-point range (17.2 percent) and 8 of 10 shots from the foul line (80.0 percent). Kentucky hit 25 of 58 shots from the field (43.1 percent), 5 of 14 shots from 3-point range (35.7 percent) and 23 of 30 shots from the foul line (76.7 percent).

Kentucky held a 41-31 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had 16 assists and 11 turnovers, while the Wildcats had 11 assists and 11 turnovers.

Kentucky (15-5, 5-3) received 22 points from P.J. Washington, 19 points from Kevin Knox and 16 points from Alexander Gilgeous.

MSU will play host to Missouri at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Humphrey Coliseum. The game will be shown nationally on the SEC Network.