STARKVILLE, Miss. – – Reed With less than a second left, Sheppard made an escape attempt just inside the foul line and finished his career with 32 points, giving No. 16 Kentucky a wild 91-89 win over Mississippi State on Tuesday night.
Mississippi State's Josh Hubbard tied the score at 89 with his seventh three-pointer of the game with 11 seconds left. Hubbard finished his career with a career-best seven three-pointers and 34 points.
Kentucky led 85-78 with 49 seconds to play before Hubbard drained a 3. After Sheppard hit two free throws, Mississippi State's Cameron Matthews converted a three-point play that cut the game to 87-84. The Bulldogs closed within one point after Tolu Smith sank two free throws before two more from Sheppard with 17 seconds left capped the frenzy.
Antonio Reeves scored 21 points for Kentucky (20-8, 10-5 SEC). Adou Thiero added 11 points and DJ Wagner had 10. Kentucky has won 19 straight regular-season meetings with Mississippi State, including four overtime victories.
“He plays to win,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said of Sheppard. “He doesn’t play to avoid losing. And we had to make some 3s to stay in the game. So in the first half we tried to make some threes and stay in the game. They went into the zone (in the second half), but we still ran to get some looks on threes.”
Kentucky shot 55% from the floor and made 10 of 30 attempts from 3-point range. The Wildcats shot 15 for 17 at the line and had 10 turnovers.
Mississippi State shot 52% from the field and shot 11 of 25 from distance. The Bulldogs had a 12-for-17 record at the free throw line and had 15 turnovers. They also beat Kentucky 34-27.
Smith had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs (19-9, 8-7). Shakeel Moore added 10 points.
“After we hit a few shots early in the second half and pushed the lead to 13, they switched on the two freshmen (Sheppard and Rob Dillingham) pretty quickly,” Mississippi State coach Chris Jans said. “They are two of the most dynamic guards in the country and have increased their pace. They played faster and more determinedly offensively.
“They looked good up front and for some reason we weren't as aggressive on the ball screens. But I have to give them a lot of credit. They played a great game and (Sheppard) is like another coach out there. We had the game where we wanted it and they flipped the script on us.”
Mississippi State built a 14-3 lead and led the entire first half. Kentucky cut the deficit to 32-30 on a layup by Wagner with 4:28 left. The Bulldogs finished the half with an 11-5 lead and led 43-35 at the break.
Mississippi State shot 53% in the first half and made 5 of 9 from behind the arc. The Bulldogs outscored Kentucky 20-13, including six offensive players.
Kentucky shot 48% from the floor in the first half and was 7 of 18 from long range.
BIG PICTURE
Kentucky: The Wildcats edged just a half-game ahead of South Carolina and moved into fourth place in the SEC. They're hoping for a double-bye in the conference tournament next month.
Mississippi State: The road gets tougher this week with a trip to No. 11 Auburn on Saturday. The Bulldogs close out the regular season next week at Texas A&M and at home against South Carolina.
NEXT
Kentucky: hosts Arkansas on Saturday.
Mississippi State: At Auburn on Saturday.
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AP College Basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball