We continue our trek through the past as I try to find a game where we beat the team that is our next opponent in the 2009-10 season. Mississippi State’s all time record vs. Kentucky is 20 wins and 84 losses. The following game was a wild one as the ending is the best part. It wasn’t how Tubby drew it up, but the outcome was acceptable.
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[B]Jan. 13, 2004[/B]
[QUOTE]
[B][B]By RALPH D. RUSSO[/B][/B]
[B][B]AP Sports Writer[/B][/B]
[B][B]STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) –[/B] A little good fortune turned a potentially crushing defeat into a thrilling win for No. 5 Kentucky.[/B]
[B]Erik Daniels grabbed a tipped desperation pass out of the air and laid it in as time expired to give Kentucky a 67-66 victory over No. 20 Mississippi State on Tuesday night.[/B]
[B]The previously unbeaten Bulldogs (13-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) rallied from a 16-point deficit in the second half, taking a 66-65 lead with a minute left on Branden Vincent’s putback.[/B]
[B]”This could have been devastating,” Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said. “But this win will give us a belief in ourselves.”[/B]
[B]Winsome Frazier and Timmy Bowers both missed the front end of 1-and-1s in the final 30 seconds for Mississippi State, giving Kentucky (11-1, 2-0) a shot to win it in the final seconds.[/B]
[B]”We should have made them free throws, and we would have had the game locked up” said Frazier, who had nine points and was a big part of the late run.[/B]
[B]Cliff Hawkins inbounded the ball from the side with 2.5 seconds left and tried to throw a lob to Chuck Hayes underneath. Mississippi State’s Lawrence Roberts reached for the ball with two hands, but Hayes appeared to tip it away and Daniels never had an easier game-winning basket.[/B]
[B]”I got lucky,” Daniels said. “I saw the ball the whole time it was in the air. I’m always looking for the easy baskets.”[/B]
[B]Gerald Fitch had 23 points and five 3-pointers, and Daniels finished with 16 points for the Wildcats, who have won 19 straight regular-season games in the SEC.[/B]
[B]Bowers led the Mississippi State comeback and scored 20 points, while Roberts had 15 points and 14 rebounds.[/B]
[B]The Wildcats have won four straight, the last three against ranked teams and the last two against opponents who came in with perfect records.[/B]
[B]Kentucky handed No. 23 Vanderbilt its first loss on Saturday.[/B]
[B]Mississippi State, off to its best start, has lost six straight against ranked teams. The Bulldogs also had their 14-game home winning streak snapped, the longest in school history.[/B]
[B]Kentucky appeared in control when Fitch hit a 3 with 9:40 left to make it 54-40.[/B]
[B]But Mississippi State gave the third-largest crowd in Humphrey Coliseum history a charge with consecutive 3-pointers by Bowers to cut it to 56-51 with 6:44 left.[/B]
[B]The Wildcats calmly responded with a dunk by Kelenna Azubuike and a 3 by Hawkins to bump it back to 61-52.[/B]
[B]The Bulldogs surged again.[/B]
[B]Bowers hit a 3 and Roberts and Frazier got consecutive hoops on offensive rebounds to make it 63-61. Another putback by Roberts gave the Bulldogs’ their first lead of the game with 1:55 left, 64-63.[/B]
[B]”We did a good job of keeping the pressure on them,” Roberts said.[/B]
[B]Azubuike made it 65-64 with a jumper and Bowers went for another 3 and missed.[/B]
[B]Again, the Bulldogs crashed the boards with Vincent getting the hoop.[/B]
[B]But the Bulldogs couldn’t seal it and Kentucky earned Smith his 299th career victory.[/B]
[B]”Sometimes I’d rather be lucky than good,” Smith said. “But you have to be good enough to put yourself in position to get those breaks.”[/B]
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[URL=”http://www.ukathletics.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/011304aaa.html”]Source[/URL]
