Mississippi State

LEXINGTON - After Kentucky lost 49-0 to LSU last year, receiver Dicky Lyons confidently guaranteed that the Cats would beat Mississippi State. While Kentucky coach Rich Brooks didn't like Lyons' brash prediction, UK did win and save its season. So does Lyons have anything to predict or guarantee about UK's upcoming game at Vanderbilt on Saturday or games with Georgia or Tennessee following the Cats disappointing loss to Mississippi State on Oct. 27? "If they (the players)

Mississippi guard Devin Booker says he has “always heard about” Kentucky basketball, especially after the arrival of coach John Calipari four years ago. “I know everybody in Kentucky loves the game. That's the kind of spot where you want to play where people love the sport and pay attention to it. Some schools are only about football and don't care about basketball. At Kentucky, it's strictly basketball,” the 6-5 shooting guard, considered one of the top 25 players in the 2014 recruiting class, said.

DateOpponentLocationTime Sept. 1 Eastern Kentucky Lexington, KY 6:00 Sept. 8 Kent State Lexington, KY 6:00 Sept. 15 Louisville (ESPNC, WKYT, WHAS) Lexington, KY 7:30 Sept. 22 Arkansas Fayetteville, AR TBA Sept. 29 Florida Atlantic Lexington KY 1:00 Oct. 4 South Carolina (ESPN) Columbia, SC 7:30 Oct. 13 LSU Lexington, KY 7:00 Oct. 20 Florida Lexington, KY 7:00 Oct. 27 Mississippi State (Homecoming)

LEXINGTON - Don't even try to convince Kentucky defensive coordinator Steve Brown that Mississippi State could be a "trap game" for the Wildcats. Kentucky has faced three straight ranked teams going into Saturday's game here against unranked Mississippi State. "You don't call it a trap game when you are playing a Southeastern Conference team," said Brown. "There are no traps in this league, just tough games. Was Vanderbilt beating South Carolina a trap? Or Mississippi State winning at Auburn?

Before the season started, Barry Stewart said Mississippi State teammate Jarvis Varnado heard what some people were saying about him. "He caught wind that people were saying he's a good player, but that he had to step his offense up to be a great player. That seemed to really motivate him," said Stewart. Kentucky will find out how motivated the 6-9 junior is today when it hosts Mississippi State (14-7, 4-2) in a game that suddenly is a must-win for both teams. Both teams were unbeaten in Southeastern Conference play, but both now are on two-game losing skids.

Kenneth Bottoms of Danville edged Jeff Tribble of Harrodsburg on the tiebreaker score of Kentucky's win over Mississippi State to win last week's Central Kentucky Plumbing Beat the Experts Football Contest. Bottoms and Tribble both had eight games correct in a week filled with upsets, including a loss by No. 1 Texas. Bottoms wins a $10 Marathon gas card for beating 147 other entries. Sports editor Larry Vaught and guest expert Keith Tarter both had six games right. Others who beat the best expert were as follows: Seven right - Ted Hodge, Danville; George Johnson, Mitchellsburg; Steve Haney, Burgin; Pat Bottoms, Danville; Hunter Glasscock, Perryville; and Tommy Lester, Danville.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky center Matt McCutchan wanted a sixth year of eligibility this year because he was convinced the Wildcats would have a better football team this year. Despite UK's 3-4 record going into Saturday's game at Mississippi State, McCutchan has not lost that belief. "I think everybody knows how important this game Saturday is to our football program," McCutchan said. "We can still control our own destiny. Everybody from freshmen to seniors knows what this game means.

Centre College alumnus John Horhn, a multi-talented actor, writer, and Mississippi state senator, will serve as the featured speaker for the 2006 observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration at the college. The program is set for 7 p.m. Monday in Newlin Hall of the Norton Center for the Arts. The public is welcome to attend at no cost. "John Horhn is a man of many talents: a spirited and passionate actor, a compassionate and effective legislator, and a community leader whose work has been marked by generosity and vision," says John Ward, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College.

NASHVILLE - For fans Bonnie and Danny Jewell, the Southeastern Conference Tournament opening session Thursday was almost a dream come true. They have lived in Louisville, Miss., since 1980 and are avid Mississippi State sports fans. In the tourney's first game, they got to watch Mississippi State fall 59-44 to South Carolina. However, since they lived in Stanford before moving south, they are still University of Kentucky fans and got to watch the Wildcats beat the University of Mississippi 71-57 in the second game.

Mississippi guard Devin Booker says he has “always heard about” Kentucky basketball, especially after the arrival of coach John Calipari four years ago. “I know everybody in Kentucky loves the game. That's the kind of spot where you want to play where people love the sport and pay attention to it. Some schools are only about football and don't care about basketball. At Kentucky, it's strictly basketball,” the 6-5 shooting guard, considered one of the top 25 players in the 2014 recruiting class, said.

He's what his coach calls an “efficient player” who doesn't mind working to make himself better, something that coaches like John Calipari of Kentucky like about Mississippi guard Devin Booker. “He is a smart player, too, along with being a hard working player,” said Moss Point (Miss.) coach Micoe Cotton. “His work ethic is non stop. He puts in hours working on his game just trying to get better at his craft. He's an excellent shooter, but the strongest part of his game is his basketball IQ and decision making.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky is coming off a badly needed overtime win over Missouri, but UK¿coach John Calipari stressed Monday that his team now had to “keep on that path” in the weeks ahead. “We've got four left and Mississippi State at home and got to go on the road to two teams (Arkansas and Georgia) that have played very well and have been well-coached and end up with Florida, one of the top two, three, four teams in the country to finish up the year,” said Calipari on the Southeastern Conference coaches' teleconference.

Mississippi State Coach Vic Schaefer stared at his stat sheet for a solid 10 seconds before finally beginning his opening statement after his Bulldogs lost to Kentucky 100-47 Thursday. The Bulldogs had been 0-3 in SEC play before they traveled to Memorial Coliseum in search of their first conference victory. But Kentucky shellacked those hopes with yet another dominating performance, leaving Schaefer baffled with how to explain the performance. Four Cats finished in double figures - DeNesha Stallworth with 25, A'dia Mathies with 21, Bria Goss with 13 and Kastine Evans with 12. Stallworth reached her new career-high of 25 on a night where she had been recognized pregame with a commemorative basketball.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky coach Joker Phillips says playing two true freshmen quarterbacks - Jalen Whitlow and Patrick Towles - against Mississippi State is going to be “exciting” for both teams. “The team we're playing has no idea what they're about to get. We don't know,” said Phillips. That's because UK¿won't have sophomore quarterback Maxwell Smith for this game or likely any more this season. Phillips announced¿Monday that Smith would need surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left ankle after he was hurt on the second play of Saturday's loss to South Carolina.

STARKVILLE, Miss. - At the Southeastern Conference Media Day in October, Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury thought Kentucky would be good and certainly capable of winning the SEC title despite losing key players off the 2011 Final Four team What Stansbury didn't know then was just how good Kentucky would be and that the Wildcats would be far better than anticipated. “No question about that. I¿don't think anybody anticipated them being this good.

STARKVILLE, Miss. - When his team was down 13 points at halftime, Kentucky coach John Calipari knew his team was not that bad off. “We should have been down 20. They played outstanding and we played OK,” said Calipari. He admitted he got a little “mean” with his team over the way it played against Mississippi State, but also reminded them of what may have eventually made the difference in UK's 73-64 comeback victory. “Indiana did this to us and we came back. This team has a will to win. I told them if the game is close, your will to win will win it,” Calipari said after Tuesday's win that clinched the Southeastern Conference championship.

STARKVILLE, Miss.  - Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury insisted again Tuesday he meant no harm with a comment about Kentucky's Twany Beckham, a transfer from Mississippi State, before his press conference Monday. “I saw his stats the other day in SEC play. Did he make one or attempt one shot?” Stansbury said. “He's seeing some pretty good basketball. He's getting a front-row ticket every night. Yes, sir.” Those were the comments reported that Stansbury said about Beckham on his return to Starkville for Tuesday's game.

STARKVILLE, Miss. - When Kentucky needed them most, senior Darius Miller and freshman Michael Kidd-Gilchrist delivered for the Wildcats in Tuesday's 73-64 win over Mississippi State that kept the Wildcats unbeaten in Southeastern Conference play. Kentucky trailed 41-28 at halftime when Calipari moved Kidd-Gilchrist to guard State guard Dee Bost, who had 16 points at halftime. He also told Miller he wanted him to shoot more after he was 0-for-2 in the first half. Bost scored just five points in the second half and Kidd-Gilchrist and Miller combined to score 17 points during a game-winning 20-4 run to close the game.

Playing at Mississippi State tonight and hosting Vanderbilt on Saturday could make for a difficult week for No. 1 Kentucky , but that's fine with coach John Calipari . “In February you need tests and you need to find out where you are at this point. This isn't football. You can drop games in basketball and still be fine, so let's find out where we are, and see if that's good enough,” Calipari said Monday. Mississippi State has lost three straight Southeastern Conference games to drop to 6-6 in league play, but Calipari warned that the Bulldogs should not be underestimated.