Kentucky slips by Bulldogs

By Staff
January 14, 2004
By Tony Krausz / assistant sports editor
STARKVILLE Maybe the Mississippi State University balloon, which drops give away items onto the crowd inside Humphrey Coliseum, slowly floating down from the ceiling with two seconds left on the clock was a sign.
Or maybe it just sprung a leak.
Either way, Kentucky forward Erik Daniels deflated the crowd of 10,432 by laying in a basket at the buzzer to hand No. 20 MSU its first loss of the season, 67-66.
Daniels was able to get the game winning shot off after Bulldogs forward Lawrence Roberts tipped an inbounds pass in the lane. Daniels finished the game with 16 points.
Kentucky's game-winning play was set up with two seconds left in the contest.
Wildcats guard Gerald Fitch, who scored a game-high 23 points in the win, slipped at the top of the Bulldogs' key sending the ball bouncing toward Kentucky's bench.
MSU guard Timmy Bowers dove on the ball and was followed by a pack of Wildcat players on the floor. The referees called for a jump ball, with the possession arrow pointing in Kentucky's favor.
Prior to the game's closing sequence, the Bulldogs (13-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) looked ready to steal another game from No. 5-ranked Kentucky (11-1, 2-0 SEC) in Humphrey.
MSU battled to an overtime victory over Kentucky the last time the two teams met in Starkville, after falling behind by as many as 20 on Jan. 5, 2002.
The Bulldogs trailed throughout Tuesday night's ESPN televised contest, until the game's final minutes.
MSU took its first lead of the game on a putback by Roberts off a Winsome Frazier missed free throw. The Bulldogs went up 64-63 on the play, with 1:54 left in the game.
Kentucky retook the lead with 1:34 left to play off a jumper by Kelenna Azubuike.
MSU forward Brandon Vincent answered Azubuike's basket, with a putback off a missed three-pointer by Timmy Bowers, to take a 66-65 lead.
The Bulldogs missed two chances at the free-throw line to seal a one-point victory, as both Bowers and Frazier missed the front end of one-and-one situations, with less than 30 seconds left in the game.
Having a chance to win in the closing seconds didn't seem possible for MSU at the start of the contest. Kentucky jumped out to a 12-2 in the opening four minutes of the game, nearly silencing a rowdy MSU crowd.
The Bulldogs clawed back to into the game knocking the Wildcats' lead down to 17-15, with 9:35 left in the game.
Freshman guard Gary Ervin, who scored 11 points and dished out four assists, sparked the run after entering the game with just under 15 minutes left in the first half.
Ervin scored on a lay up down the center of the lane and followed with a three-pointer to cut Kentucky's lead to 12-7, with 12:38 left in the first.
Ervin exited the game with 10:27 left in the first half, after he scored five points in a 7-2 MSU run and connected on an ally-oop pass to Roberts, who finished the game with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
Kentucky didn't let MSU stay near the lead long.
Starting with a three-pointer from Fitch, the Wildcats went on a 16-0 run over the next three minutes for a 32-15 advantage, with 6:19 left in the game.
MSU closed the final two minutes of the first half scoring eight unanswered points to cut Kentucky's halftime lead to 37-28.