SEC TOURNAMENT
BRIDGESTONE ARENA | NASHVILLE, TENN.
MARCH 11, 2021
Final Score: Mississippi State 74, Kentucky 73
Team Records and Series Notes • Kentucky concludes the season at 9-16 overall. Mississippi State improves to 15-13 as it continues on to the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals.o It marks the Wildcats’ first losing season since going 13-19 in the 1988-89 season.• UK leads the series 99-21 but today ended a 15-game winning streak vs. the Bulldogs, all under John Calipari. o UK is 8-3 vs. MSU in the SEC Tournament.
Player Notes • Dontaie Allen came off the bench to spark UK’s comeback. He scored 20 points in the second half en route to a career-high-tying 23 points.o Both of his 23-point games this season came against Mississippi State.o He made 6 of 13 on 3-pointers, including draining his first 3 since Feb. 13 vs. Auburn.o Allen finished the season with 46 points vs. the Bulldogs on 16-of-28 shooting with a combined 13 3-pointers in two games.• Davion Mintz tallied 16 points and led the Wildcats inassists with a career-high-tying eight. o He made 4 of 7 on 3-point shots, the eighthconsecutive game he made at least two long balls. He made 45.3% on 3-pointers during that eight-game span.▪ He finished the year having drained multiple 3-pointers in 11 of his last 12 games played. o He averaged 16.7 points over the last six games.o He dished out 23 assists over the last three games, the best three-game stretch of his career. • Oliver Sarr had 14 points and hit double figures for the fifth time in the last six games. He tied for the team lead in rebounds with five. o Sarr ended the season scoring in double figures in nine of the final 12 games.• Plagued by foul trouble, Isaiah Jackson fouled out in 19 minutes of action, totaling seven points and three rebounds. It snapped a stretch of six straight games in double digits.o He had averaged 14.3 points during the previous six games. • Keion Brooks Jr. recorded 10 points and tied Sarr for a team-best five rebounds. o He snared at least eight boards in five of the last six games and led UK in rebounding in seven games this season.• Terrence Clarke played his first game since Dec. 26 at Louisville. He had two points and three assists in 10 minutes of action.
Coach John Calipari • Calipari is now 339-93 at UK.• Calipari has a 784-233 all-time on-court record. • UK is 275-55 under Calipari against teams unranked in the Associated Press Top 25.• Calipari is 57-13 all-time in league tournaments, including 23-5 in the SEC Tournament.o It’s just the eighth time in 27 conference tournament appearances Calipari’s team did not reach the event’s championship game. • It was Calipari’s first loss in his career to Mississippi State. He is now 16-1 vs. the Bulldogs.
Team Notes • Kentucky scored 73 points today. UK is 8-1 this season when scoring at least 76 points but 1-15 when scoring 75 or fewer.• With 18 assists and five turnovers, UK is now 9-4 this season when breaking even or better on assist-to-turnover margin. The Wildcats are 0-12 this season with a negative assist/TO margin.o The Wildcats outscored Mississippi State 11-2 in points off turnovers and 13-4 on the fastbreak. • UK had shot free throws well recently, making 94 of 117 (80.3%) during the previous six games, but the Wildcatsmade only 10 of 17 today, 58.8&.• Kentucky went 2-6 this season in games decided by one possession.o UK had four one-point losses this season, most by any Wildcat team in school history.• The Wildcats were outrebounded today 46-30 and went 2-8 this season when losing or tying the battle of the boards. • Kentucky was outscored 46-22 in the paint, falling to 5-12 this season when getting beat in the interior. • UK’s bench outscored MSU’s 36-14.
UK in the SEC Tournament• Kentucky is 134-27 all-time in the SEC Tournament.• UK is 21-4 in SEC Tournament games played in Nashville, Tennessee. • Despite the loss, the Wildcats will still end the 2021 SEC Tournament with more SEC Tournament crowns (31) than the rest of the league combined (29 after a champion this season is crowned).
In the First Half • Kentucky started Davion Mintz, Brandon Boston Jr., Jacob Toppin, Isaiah Jackson and Olivier Sarr for thesecond time. UK is 1-1 with this lineup. o Lance Ware, Devin Askew and Keion Brooks Jr. were the first substitutes at the 15:58 mark. o Terrence Clarke entered at 13:11, his first appearance since Dec. 26 at Louisville. • UK missed 11 of its first 13 field-goal attempts and never led in the first half.• MSU’s first 34 points came in the paint or at the free throw line.• Other than a tie at 5-5, MSU led the entire half and took its largest lead into the locker room at 44-30.o This tied UK’s largest halftime deficit in the history of the SEC Tournament, tying a 14-point deficit on March 10, 2000 vs. Arkansas and March 15, 2013 vs. Vanderbilt. UK lost both of the previous two games.o Other than one 3-pointer, all of MSU’s points came in the paint or at the free throw line.o Kentucky fell to 3-10 this season when trailing at halftime.
In the Second Half • Kentucky began the second half with Mintz, Boston, Dontaie Allen, Brooks and Jackson.• With UK trailing 55-41 with 16 minutes remaining, the Wildcats went on an 24-9 spurt – featuring 18 points byAllen – to give UK its first lead of the game at 65-64 with 6:21 remaining.• UK increased the lead to 71-66 with 4:30 left, capping a 30-11 run. • MSU’s Iverson Molinar got back-to-back 3-pointers to take a 72-71 lead.• Sarr’s short lefty hook in the lane put UK up 73-72 with 1:18 to go.• Molinar was fouled with 7.1 seconds left and he made both shots to put MSU ahead 74-73.• Allen missed a 3-pointer with two seconds left as MSU held on to win.