NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The No. 9 seed Mississippi State men’s basketball team survived a Kentucky comeback to win 74-73 Thursday afternoon in the second round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament inside Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
The Bulldogs (15-13, 8-10 SEC) advance to play No. 1 seed and sixth-ranked Alabama (21-6, 16-2 SEC) in the tournament quarterfinals Friday at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN.
The win marks the first MSU win over Kentucky since 2009 and the first against head coach John Calipari.
Sophomore guard Iverson Molinar led the Bulldogs with 21 points, including eight points in the final 3:07 to erase a five-point deficit, while redshirt sophomore forward Tolu Smith and redshirt senior forward Abdul Ado added 13 and 12 points, respectively.