No. 17 Kentucky men’s basketball suffered a surprise defeat against LSU, falling 75-74 inside the Pete Maravich Center in Baton Rouge on Wednesday.
The game featured another stellar showing from Antonio Reeves, who dropped 25 points in the effort.
The Wildcats entered the game on the back of a massive 70-59 win on the road against then No. 13 Auburn after beating Ole Miss at home.
Looking to make it three in a row, Kentucky brought out a familiar starting lineup of Justin Edwards, Adou Thiero, Reeves, D.J. Wagner and Ugonna Onyenso. The Cats were once again forced to be without veteran leader Tre Mitchell, who remained out with injury.
Both teams started red hot from the field with big wins going into the competition, shooting over 60% from the field and standing tied at 16 with over 13 minutes remaining in the half.
Both teams remained even with LSU holding the narrowest of leads as a complete twist of fate occurred and the pair went ice cold from the floor.
Despite that, LSU figured it out first and retook the lead while the Cats failed to score for over four minutes.
When all seemed to be going wrong for Kentucky, the Cats remembered who they are and caught fire, ripping off a 10-0 scoring run to close out the half with a nine-point lead, having held LSU to just 27 points with 11 turnovers.
Kicking off the second half, the Cats picked up right where they left off with two immediate drained 3-pointers by Edwards and Reeves to force an LSU timeout.
Unfortunately for those UK fans in attendance, the next timeout would be called by the Wildcats after the Tigers rattled off a scoring run of their own with three straight 3-pointers to get back within two points.
The Tigers didn’t stop there, though, retaking the lead and holding it after eight minutes of play.
Kentucky began to make shots once again, but continued to trail, with LSU maintaining the lead with under eight minutes remaining in the contest.
Kentucky managed to retake the lead late but a shocking buzzer beater by the Tigers was the final nail in the coffin for the Cats.
The Cats will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 24, back inside Rupp Arena against Alabama. Tip-off against the Crimson Tide is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET and will air live on CBS Sports.
