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Kentucky tops Mississippi State, 74-56, to advance to 28-0

Kentucky fought off a slow start to cruise to a 74-56 victory over Mississippi State on Wednesday night to keep its undefeated season on track.

Trey Lyles - photo by Walter Cornett | WildcatWorld.com

– photo by Walter Cornett | WildcatWorld.com

Top-ranked fought off a slow start to cruise to a 74-56 victory over on Wednesday night to keep its undefeated season on track.

Trey Lyles scored a career-high 18 points and added 16 for Kentucky (28-0, 15-0 Southeastern Conference), which is the last remaining undefeated team in the country.

Its 28 straight wins are the most in a single season in program history.

The Wildcats had to work a little for this one, leading just 41-37 with 15:10 remaining. But they responded with an avalanche of points down the stretch – punctuated by a thunderous dunk by Karl-Anthony Towns – to turn the contest into another convincing blowout.

Mississippi State (12-16, 5-10) has lost eight in a row to the Wildcats. Fred Thomas led the Bulldogs with 14 points.

 

On This Day In UK Basketball History

On March 28, 1992, in what many called the “best NCAA Tournament game ever,” Kentucky takes defending NCAA champion Duke into overtime before losing 104-103 in the East Regional finals in Philadelphia. A last-second shot by Christian Laettner sends Duke to the Final Four, and breaks the hearts of Wildcat fans everywhere. It is Cawood Ledford’s last game as the “Voice of the Wildcats.”

 

On March 28, 1998, against Stanford, Kentucky rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit, then grabbed a 5-point overtime lead, before fending off the Cardinals to advance to the title game for the third straight season. Jeff Sheppard canned three long-range three-pointers - two in the final three minutes and one in overtime - en route to a career-high 27 points.

 

On March 28, 2014, unranked Kentucky beat No. 5 Louisville 74-69, in the 2014 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.  Aaron Harrison buried a three-pointer from the left corner with 39 seconds left that put UK ahead to stay before 41,072 in Lucas Oil Stadium.

 

On March 28, 2015, No. 1 Kentucky defeated No. 8 Notre Dame, 68-66, in the 2015 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.  With its 37-0 record on the line, Kentucky trailed Notre Dame 59-53 with 6:14 left. UK rallied in front of 19,464 fans in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena and preserved its perfect season thanks to a crucial blocked shot by Willie Cauley-Stein and two game-deciding free throws from Andrew Harrison in the final seconds.

 

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