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No. 7 Mississippi State basketball dispatches of No. 16 Kentucky with 15 point win

By Ethan Lee

DALLAS, TX - APRIL 02: The Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs mascot 'Bully XXI' looks on during warm ups prior to the game between the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs during the championship game of the 2017 NCAA Women's Final Four at American Airlines Center on April 2, 2017 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
DALLAS, TX - APRIL 02: The Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs mascot 'Bully XXI' looks on during warm ups prior to the game between the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs during the championship game of the 2017 NCAA Women's Final Four at American Airlines Center on April 2, 2017 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) /
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As the 7th ranked Mississippi State basketball team returned home to Starkville, the Bulldogs were met by the 16th ranked Kentucky Wildcats.

Vic Schaefer’s Mississippi State basketball team (14-1 overall, 2-0 SEC) literally could not be off to a better start with its conference schedule. In front of 8830 fans, the No. 7 Bulldogs hosted No. 16 Kentucky (14-2 overall, 1-1 SEC) over the weekend and there was actually a chance that MSU might get challenged.

That possibility never became reality, however, as the Bulldogs jumped out to a huge lead and held 15-point advantage over the Wildcats by the time the first quarter was wrapped up. MSU never looked back from there and wound up winning 86-71.

Instead, Schaefer’s team kept pushing against Kentucky.

The Wildcats managed to slow Mississippi State some in the second quarter, cutting the lead by one point heading into halftime, but that’s literally as close as Kentucky would get in this game. The Bulldogs were up 41-27 as the second quarter came to an end.

In the first half, Mississippi State made 16 of their 37 shots (43.24 percent) and completely stifled everything that Kentucky tried to do offensively. The Wildcats made just 9 of their 27 shots (33.3 percent).

Despite an attempted comeback by the Wildcats in the second half, the Bulldogs cruised to victory at home.

The only significant aspect of the game that Kentucky managed to do better than Mississippi State in was hitting shots from behind the three point line. UK managed to make 38.9 percent of its shots from deep while the Bulldogs struggled to get 27.3 percent.

However, that hardly mattered as the Bulldogs still came away with a 15 point win.

Mississippi State had a better overall field goal percentage (45.6 vs. 43.1), double the number of Kentucky’s rebounds (48 vs. 24), and fewer fouls (18 vs. 25).

This win is huge for the Bulldogs as it’s a double digit victory over one of the best teams that the SEC has to offer. MSU is striving to win the conference for a second consecutive season. Wins like this will go a long way to helping Schaefer and his team do just that.

All stats via HailState.com

Next. UConn’s loss to Baylor could help Bulldogs. dark

Vic Schaefer and the Mississippi State basketball team will return to action later this week on Thursday night at 8:00 pm. against the Georgia Bulldogs. MSU will host the visiting Bulldogs in The Hump.

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