Mississippi State falls to Kentucky 78-73 in 2OT

STARKVILLE, Miss. — The Mississippi State men’s basketball team had its three-game winning streak snapped Saturday evening in a 78-73 double-overtime loss to the Kentucky Wildcats at Humphrey Coliseum.

Mississippi State falls to 6-4 (1-1 SEC), while Kentucky improves to 2-6 (1-0 SEC) and snaps its six-game losing streak.

Redshirt sophomore guard D.J. Stewart Jr. scored 19 points and tallied five rebounds. Sophomore guard Iverson Molinar scored 17 points and also tallied five rebounds.

Redshirt senior forward Jalen Johnson put up 14 points and made three of the team’s five 3-pointers, while redshirt sophomore forward Tolu Smith added seven points and 12 rebounds.

The Bulldogs shot 26-for-69 (37.7%) from the field, including 5-for-15 (33.3%) from 3-point range.

The Wildcats had struggled from 3-point range all season, but they hit 11 of 21 (52.4%) in the game. In total, they shot 32 of 77 (41.6%) from the field.

Kentucky redshirt freshman guard Dontaie Allen made 7 of 11 3-pointers and scored a career-high 23 points, while senior forward Olivier Sarr had 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Kentucky held a 48-46 rebounding edge and a 10-7 edge in blocks.

The Wildcats were without freshman guard Terrence Clarke for the game. The team announced about an hour before tip-off that Clarke has an injured right ankle.

Mississippi State held an early 7-3 lead in the game before it was knotted up at 9-9 with 14:13 left in the first half. Kentucky went up by five points at 21-16 with 9:21 left.

Three consecutive baskets by the Bulldogs then gave MSU a 22-21 lead. A pair of free throws gave MSU its largest lead of the half at 31-25 with 2:21 left.

The Bulldogs went into the halftime break leading 35-30.

MSU led for most of the second half, leading by as many as nine points.

Kentucky head coach John Calipari got himself ejected with 9:04 left in the second half. MSU held a 53-46 lead at the time of his tossing. The Wildcats then used a 10-0 run with him in the locker room to go up 56-55 with 5:08 left to play.

A pair of baskets by Smith and Molinar gave the Bulldogs a 59-56 lead with 2:32 to play, but Allen hit a triple to tie things up.

The teams ended regulation tied at 61-61.

Allen and Molinar traded 3-pointers at the end of the first overtime to keep things tied at 68-68.

Allen scored five crucial points in the second overtime to stretch Kentucky’s lead to 76-70. The Bulldogs were unable to comeback from that and ultimately fell 78-73.

The Bulldogs stay at home for their next game as they host No. 12 Missouri on Tuesday. Tip time is set for 8 p.m. CT.