Fox leads No. 5 Kentucky over pesky Mississippi State
STARKVILLE, Miss. - De'Aaron Fox scored 21 points, Malik Monk added 14 and No. 5 Kentucky beat Mississippi State 88-81 on Tuesday night.
Kentucky (16-2, 6-0 Southeastern Conference) looked like it would cruise to the win after building a 66-49 lead midway through the second half, but Mississippi State responded with 13 straight points to make things interesting down the stretch.
In the end, the Wildcats were too potent offensively. Fox, a 6-foot-3 freshman, had two impressive drives for baskets in the final minutes to thwart a final Mississippi State rally.
Mississippi State (12-5, 3-2) was led by freshman Lamar Peters, who scored a career-high 25 points.
It was an emotional game that featured four technical fouls - two on each team.
Kentucky's Derek Willis scored all 13 of his points in the first half, stepping out to make three 3-pointers. Fox added 10 points as Kentucky pushed out to a 46-34 halftime lead.
BIG PICTURE
Mississippi State: The Bulldogs were able to hang with one of the nation's best teams for most of the game, but an inability to stop Kentucky on the defensive end proved costly.
Kentucky: The Wildcats continue to put up big numbers on offense, scoring at least 87 points for the sixth straight game. Monk, who leads the team with nearly 22 points per game, wasn't at his best on Tuesday, but his teammates were more than capable of picking up the slack.
UP NEXT
Mississippi State: The Bulldogs travel to face Tennessee on Saturday.
Kentucky: The Wildcats return home to face No. 24 South Carolina on Saturday.