No. 14 Mississippi State hoped having an open date over the weekend would leave the team rested for a pivotal showdown against 16th-ranked Kentucky.
Instead, the Bulldogs’ offense snoozed through Thursday’s game against the Wildcats in an 83-60 defeat, their largest home loss in three years.
“You have to take your hat off to Kentucky, they came in and played like they had something to prove,” said MSU coach Vic Schaefer. “I thought they played with an edge, which is what we’ve talked about our group trying to do. I thought they really took the fight to us tonight and obviously outplayed us in every facet.