Following a loss to Alabama, Mississippi State looks to bounce back in the win column but it will be against a formidable opponent in No. 8 Kentucky.
Two of the most exciting freshman guards in the SEC will face off against each other MSU's Josh Hubbard and Kentucky's Rob Dillingham and try to lead their teams to victory.
What: Mississippi State Bulldogs (12-4, 1-2 SEC) versus Kentucky Wildcats (12-3, 2-1 SEC)
Where: Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky
TV: ESPN 2
When: Wednesday, 6 p.m. Central
Lineups
Kentucky Wildcats
Justin Edwards
Antonio Reeves
D.J. Wagner
Aaron Bradshaw
Tre Mitchell
Mississippi State Bulldogs
Shakeel Moore
Dashawn Davis
D.J. Jefferies
Tolu Smith III
Cameron Matthews
First Half
Wildcats open with the first points scoring a layup for 2.
Moore hits a corner three for MSU to take the lead. 3-2.
Jefferies is unguarded and makes an easy layup. MSU 5-2.
Reeves has five points to start the game making the score 5-5.
Another three for the wildcats taking the lead. Kentucky 8-5.
A stretch of sloppy offense from Kentucky and missed opportunities from MSU going into the media timeout.
Mitchell scores a difficult layup. Kentucky 10-5.
Reeves has started to take control of the game scoring a three and then a transition layup. Kentucky 15-5.
Chris Jans calls a timeout after a 13-0 run.
Shawn Jones Jr. enters the game and hits back-to-back threes to end the Wildcats run. Kentucky 15-11.
Kentucky calls a timeout.
Rob Dillingham has entered the game and hit a three. Kentucky leads 18-11
Josh Hubbard hits a three off of a pass from Jones Jr. Kentucky leads 18-14.
Dillingham gets fouled and splits his free throws. Kentucky leads 19-14.
Dillingham scored again on a difficult floater. Kentucky leads 21-14.
Wagner with a difficult euro-step to make a difficult layup. Kentucky leads 23-14.
Jimmy Bell Jr. enters the game and hits a shot over the Kentucky defense. 23-16.
Josh Edwards hits a layup. Kentucky leads 25-16
Dillingham gets fouled and hits both three throws extending the lead to 27-16.
Davis gets to the paint and makes a layup cutting the lead. Kentucky leads 27-18.
Tolu Smith gets to the block and scores instantly. Kentucky leads 27-20.
Dillingham continues to find ways to score extending the lead back to nine. Kentucky leads 29-20.
Tolu Smith gets to the block again and draws a foul. He misses both and the score remains the same.
Wagner drives into the paint and scores an athletic layup. Kentucky extends their lead 31-20.
Moore drives from the baseline and hits a layup off the glass. Kentucky leads 31-22.
Kentucky goes on another run. This time it is 9-0 being ended by Matthews after drawing a foul. Kentucky leads 40-24.
Trey Fort enters the game and after airballing his first shot, he hits a three. Kentucky leads 43-27.
Reeves continues to be explosive in transition scoring another layup. Kentucky leads 47-27.
Mississippi State is struggling to find a shot to close out the half while Kentucky is firing on all cylinders. Kentucky leads 47-29.
Second Half
Mississippi State is starting to get Smith involved in the game. He scores 4 straight to open the half. Kentucky leads 47-33.
Kentucky gets fouled and hits both free throws.
MSU has forced multiple turnovers to start the half on a 14-2 run. Kentucky calls and time out and the lead is 49-43.
Coming out of the timeout, Kentucky scored back-to-back layups. Kentucky leads 53-43.
Reeves hits a long floater from the baseline extending the lead of Kentucky. The Wildcats lead 55-43.
Smith gets sent to the line and splits his free throws and is followed in short succession with an and-one layup. Kentucky leads 58-44.
Both teams traded baskets inside the paint. Mitchell gets another and one and keeps the lead. Kentucky leads 61-48.
Reeves gets another finish around the paint and is followed by a Fort 3-pointer. Bell Jr. follows with a basket in the paint. Kentucky leads 64-53.
Sheppard hits a three and it is followed by Bell Jr. with another inside bucket. Kentucky leads 67-55.
Dillingham gets fouled and hits two of his three free throws. The Wildcats lead 69-55.
Fort catches a lob off of a turnover. Dillingham gets to the paint with ease and scores another layup. Kentucky leads 71-57
Smith has been the only consistent offense in the second half and continues to score. He gets fouled after a made shot but misses his free throw. Kentucky Leads 73-59.
Kentucky has started to milk the clock and Hubbard has had an off night missing multiple shots. Kentucky is getting sent to the charity stripe often and hitting most of their opportunity. Kentucky leads 79-61.
Smith gets to his spot and makes another shot. Kentucky leads 79-63.
Kentucky is winning most of the 50/50 balls and both teams trade threes. Kentucky leads 80-66.
Mitchell hits a three to extend the lead. The Wildcats lead 83-66.
Smith is scoring many points in the closing stretches of the game, but Kentucky has made most of their shots to close out the game.
Final: Kentucky 90- MSU 77.
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