The Recap: LSU Stuns No. 17 Kentucky 75-74 in Instant Classic
BATON ROUGE, La. – A buzzer-beater from Tyrell Ward lifted LSU past No. 17 Kentucky 75-74 Wednesday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. With the win, LSU claimed its second consecutive win over a top-20 team and picked up its third victory over a nationally-ranked opponent this season.
For the fifth time over a seven-game span and the third consecutive game, the LSU Tigers rallied back from a double-digit second-half deficit.
With just over a minute left in the game, Jalen Reed hit 1-of-2 free throws to make the score 73-69, in favor of the Tigers. Kentucky’s Rob Dillingham scored Kentucky’s next five points, including a go-ahead jumper, giving the Wildcats a 74-73 lead with 13 seconds remaining.
LSU inbounded the ball, and Jordan Wright’s shot was blocked. Wright pulled down his second offensive rebound of the game and saved the ball from going out of bounds. Ward located the basketball and quickly tipped it in as time expired to seal the upset.
Ward set a career-high for the second consecutive game with a team-high 17 points, shooting 5-for-10 from the floor, knocking down three 3-pointers. Reed and Wright followed with 13 points each.
Kentucky’s Antonio Reeves finished with a game-high 25 points, and Dillingham totaled 23 points, including scoring the Wildcats’ final 12 points.
LSU shot 44.6 percent from the floor (25-of-56) and 45.0 percent from 3-point range (9-for-20), while Kentucky shot 43.5 percent from the field (27-of-62) and 40.0 percent from deep (8-of-20). The Tigers outscored the Wildcats 48-38 in the second half and held the visiting team below 40.0 percent shooting in the final 20 minutes while nearly shooting 50.0 percent in the half.
LSU improves to 14-12 overall and 6-7 in SEC play, while Kentucky falls to 18-8 and 8-5 in league play. The Tigers will have a quick turnaround as they face Mississippi State at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, Feb. 24 on SEC Network.
Both teams came out firing, shooting over 60 percent from the floor and 50 percent from 3-point range by the game’s first media timeout. The score was tied 16-16 with 13:13 on the clock, and LSU was 3-for-5 from behind the arc.
Out of the timeout, Wright connected on his first triple of the night to give LSU a 19-16 lead, but the Wildcats held the Tigers without a field goal for over five minutes as the teams were knotted at 22 at the under-eight-minute media timeout.
Both teams cooled down offensively as they exchanged scoring droughts and lead changes late in the half. UK closed the half on a 10-0 run and took a 36-27 lead into intermission as they held LSU scoreless for the final 2:23 of the half.
The run continued in the second half as Kentucky knocked down a pair of triples on its first two possessions for a 16-0 run. LSU responded, however, with a 16-2 run, highlighted by 11 unanswered points to trim the 15-point deficit to two points at 44-42, forcing a UK timeout. The Fighting Tigers tied the game at 46 and took a 48-46 lead on a layup by Hunter Dean to cap another 6-0 run. LSU led 50-49 at the 11:41 mark in the second half.
The Tigers took their largest lead of the game at 54-49 and held a 61-58 advantage with 7:25 left. Kentucky pulled within one point twice down the stretch, but a corner 3-pointer from Mike Williams III pushed the lead to 66-62 with 4:59 left in the game.
After taking a 66-64 lead into the final media timeout, LSU’s Williams hit a free throw to go ahead by three points, but UK’s Dillingham nailed a 3-pointer to tie the game at 67 with 2:32 on the clock.
Reed scored on a layup, but Dillingham tied the game again at 69 with a pair of free throws. On the Tigers’ ensuing offensive possession, Will Baker, who finished with eight points, connected on his lone 3-point field goal of the game from a kick out pass from Trae Hannibal, giving LSU a 72-69 lead with just over 90 tics left.
