Sheppard's basket with 0.2 left sends Kentucky past Mississippi State

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Reed Sheppard scored on a driving layup with two-tenths of a second remaining and finished with a career-high 32 points, giving No. 16 Kentucky a 91-89 victory over Mississippi State on Tuesday night.

Mississippi State’s Josh Hubbard had tied the game at 89 with 11 seconds remaining by hitting his seventh 3-pointer of the game. Hubbard finished with a career-bests of seven 3s and 34 points.

Kentucky led 85-78 with 49 seconds remaining before Hubbard hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to four points at 85-81. After Sheppard converted a pair of free throws, Mississippi State's Cameron Matthews converted a three-point play that cut the deficit to 87-84. The Bulldogs closed within a point after Tolu Smith hit two free throws, before two more free throws by Sheppard with 17 seconds left restored the three-point advantage and set up the frantic finish.

Antonio Reeves scored 21 points for Kentucky (20-8, 10-5 SEC). Adou Thiero added 11 points and D.J. Wagner 10.

Smith had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs (19-9 overall, 8-7). Shakeel Moore added 10 points.

Mississippi State raced to a 14-3 lead and led the entire first half. Kentucky battled back and cut the deficit to 32-30 on a layup by Wagner with 4:28 remaining in the half. Mississippi State closed the half on an 11-5 run and led 43-35 at the break.

Mississippi State shot 53% in the opening half and made 5 of 9 shots from behind the arc. The Bulldogs outrebounded Kentucky 20-13 in the first half, including six offensive boards.

Kentucky shot 48% from the floor in the first half and made 7 of 18 from long distance.

BIG PICTURE

Kentucky: The Wildcats inched closer to fourth place in the SEC and continue to hope to get a double bye in next month’s SEC Tournament. Kentucky is a half-game behind South Carolina in the race for fourth place.

Mississippi State: The road gets tougher this week for the Bulldogs with a trip to No. 11 Auburn on Saturday. The Bulldogs conclude the regular season next week at Texas A&M and at home against South Carolina.

UP 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