Kentucky Claims SEC Title in Game That's More Than Madness

NASHVILLE -- In 1996, No. 1 Kentucky rolled into the SEC tournament final on a 27-game winning streak. Waiting in their path? A spunky Mississippi State team then ranked No. 24 in the country. No one gave Mississippi State much of a chance of pulling off the upset in front of a partisan Kentucky crowd in New Orleans. Then? March Madness happened. An unheralded shooting guard from Nashville named Dontae' Jones took the Bulldogs on his broad shoulders and put up 28 points on 12-of-18 shooting. Mississippi State stunned the nation with an 11-point win that sprang them into the tournament with renewed vigor. The Bulldogs would advance all the way to the Final Four.

Now, 14 years and four days later, the Bulldogs had a second chance at upsetting a big favorite.

They came within .1 seconds of pulling it off.

But with State leading by three with 4.9 seconds remaining, Eric Bledsoe toed the line. He made the first shot, and then intentionally missed the second shot. Amazingly, John Wall tracked down the rebound and missed a three. Grabbing the rebound, DeMarcus Cousins scored with .1 second left to send the game into overtime tied at 64. From there, the Wildcats would go on to snag a 75-74 victory, delivering perhaps the most painful loss in the history of Mississippi State basketball.

If there has been a better college basketball game all season, I haven't seen it.

The SEC tourney final was a rematch of an overtime thriller in Starkville that Kentucky won, 81-75. In that game Kentucky stormed back from a seven-point deficit down the stretch, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat and leading State fans to rain down bottles onto the court. But the Bulldogs didn't have second-leading score Ravern Johnson in the first game.

Let's dive in for observations and commentary from the SEC championship game.

1. The time change kills the early vibe in Bridgestone Arena.

Saturday's atmosphere was electric. Sunday's tipoff might represent the largest collection of hungover basketball fans on the season.

Saturday night in Nashville was epic, the bars were packed, cabs were packed and the city tax coffers bulged. But many fans in town for the game doubtlessly looked down at their cell phones as 2:01 became 3:01. Suddenly tipoff was just nine hours away and those hangovers were going to be painful.

2. Who did I see coming into the bar at 11 last night?

Kentucky assistant coach Rod Strickland, wearing a velvet UK jumpsuit.

I can't even make this stuff up. Clearly the film work wasn't that demanding.

3. Former Mississippi State star Dontae' Jones is in the crowd.

Jones, a Nashville native, is one of the players that comes out of nowhere in March's tourney madness and cashes in on his notoriety at the perfect time. He was relatively unheralded prior to the tourney, but after he led the Bulldogs to the Final Four the New York Knicks took him with a first round pick.

Jones's career floundered, but his life was set.

Perfect timing.

4. DeMarcus Cousins picks up his second foul with 10 minutes to play in the first half.

Yesterday I wrote that Cousins is one of the toughest players to ref in college basketball. But his second foul is just silly. Cousins bumps Mississippi State's Jarvis Varnado as he makes a move far from the basket. The foul is dumb for several reasons, primarily because Varnado is too far from the basket to possibly manage anything.

But this foul, which sends Cousins to the bench for the remainder of the first half, also represents payback for Mississippi State fans who felt their big man got hosed on several calls in Starkville, limiting Varnado to only 21 minutes.

5. Kentucky isn't playing with the same defensive intensity that it played with Saturday.

Saturday, they hated their opponent and played like it. Today they open playing like a team that is ready for the NCAA Tournament to begin.

6. Mississippi State is spreading the floor and attacking the basket.

Since State has so many three-point shooting weapons, there are avenues open to attack the basket. The Bulldogs take advantage.

State presses the fight to the Wildcats and maintain a slim lead for most of the entire first half.

7. On offense the Wildcats aren't getting any free throws.

Kentucky leads the conference in attempts by a wide margin, but in the first half, the Wildcats will only attempt four free throws, hitting two.

Why?

Jarvis Varnado is playing John Wall perfectly on his drives to the basket. Wall is an expert at drawing contact, and the love affair between him and SEC officials means he generally gets the benefit of the doubt.

But today, Varnado is keeping his arms well away from his body, preventing Wall or anyone else from drawing close enough to get many foul calls.

8. Jimmy Dykes continues to refer to DeMarcus Cousins as Shrek.

Isn't one Shrek observation enough? Does he really need to belabor this point?

9. It's 35-31 at the half.

As the Bulldogs leave the court, Jarvis Varnado leans against Rick Stansbury, exhausted already. So here's the real question does Jarvis Varnado have enough gas to make it through the rest of the game?

10. Early in the second half, Kentucky makes a run, reclaiming the lead, and John Wall takes out State coach Rick Stansbury on the sideline.

Excluding Charlie Weis getting taken out on the sideline during a punt at Notre Dame, which unfortunately ended in a serious injury, this is the funniest coach getting taken out by a player fall I've ever seen.

Stansbury goes limp, falls into his assistants, arms splayed, before landing on his back.

I replay this 10 times on my DVR.

The funniest reaction?

The assistant coach who tries to pretend like he didn't see it happen. Even though Stansbury fell completely into him. It's like when the Queen passes gas, no one acknowledges it.

11. With Kentucky trailing, Dykes continues his Wildcat love affair.

Explaining that he thinks Kentucky will win the national championship.

We've crossed into Dick Vitale and Duke territory with Dykes. How bad is this love affair during a game that the Wildcats are trailing? I'd rather watch Jimmy recap his ridiculous plane seeds.

12. With under five minutes to go, Mississippi State's Dee Bost answers a Eric Bledsoe three with his own. State leads 57-55.

An exasperated John Calipari stares at his defenders, "What the f--- are you doing?" he screams.

13. Ravern Johnson has been waiting a month to take that shot.

Ever since he was suspended for last month's game against Kentucky.

With 2:30 remaining, Johnson rises up into the air from directly in front of the Mississippi State bench. Before the ball leaves his hand State is clinging to a two-point lead. When the shot exits the net, State is up five with 2:24 to play. Almost exactly the same position they were in playing in Starkville on Feb.16th.

Can they hold on this time and earn an NCAA bid?

14. Jarvis Varnado misses two free throws with one minute left.

Even with these two misses, Varnado has likely made himself several million dollars with his domination of DeMarcus Cousins in today's game.

One of the things NBA scouts have to wonder is whether Varnado is capable of playing the big bodies in the NBA. Sure, he can play defense and block, but can he line up and physically defend?

Today, he proves he can.

What a game.

Varnado will play 40 minutes, score 18 points, grab nine rebounds and block five shots. He'll also alter at least twice that many shots.

15. Free throws. Free throws. Free throws.

Due to the fact that State hasn't attacked the basket that aggressively, Kentucky hasn't fouled very much. So late in the game, the Bulldogs have to make pressure packed free throws. And they don't get the benefit of a guaranteed second shot.

Which leads to this.

With 10 seconds left on the clock and his team nursing a 61-60 lead, senior Barry Stewart, a middle Tennessee native playing the final SEC game of his career, toes the line. In the previous minute, his team has missed three free throws. Now with a raucous Kentucky crowd screaming, Stewart has a one-and-one.

He buries them both to give the Bulldogs a 64-61 lead.

16. Rick Stansbury plays the percentages and fouls Kentucky with 4.9 seconds remaining.

The only bad thing about this play? Barry Stewart commits his fifth foul. Now he's out of the game should the remarkable happen and Kentucky manage to tie the game and send it into overtime.

Eric Bledsoe hits the first free throw and then misses the second.

The ball caroms outside and Wall gets a clean look for the win from three. He misses. Unbelievably, Kentucky is able to get the rebound and DeMarcus Cousins scores with 0.1 second remaining.

The shot only ties the game but the Wildcats celebrate as if they have won the game. Perhaps they thought they did win. Regardless, karma is a bitch.

Recall that State fans posted DeMarcus Cousins' phone number all over campus and berated him, allegedly with racial slurs. Now, just as their team is poised to capture the most-unexpected win for the program since their previous upset of Kentucky in 1996, Cousins reaches into the chest of every State fan and pulls out their beating hearts.

17. After a lengthy review, overtime commences.

Immediately the Wildcats take a lead, but that lead is tenuous until Wall, with the clock running down, hits a leaning three as the shot clock expires. Kentucky is suddenly up five with under a minute to play and will hang on for a 75-74 win.

"We were fortunate," Coach John Calipari immediately after the game, adding that Mississippi State should be in the NCAA tournament. "We shouldn't have won the game. If we are the No. 2 team, what are they?" Cal asked.

18. But, much to the dismay of Bulldog fans, that's for the selection committee to decide now.

As streamers rained down onto the court and Kentucky fans celebrated a delirious near-death victory, hardly anything else mattered in the city of Nashville.

C-A-T-S screamed the blue-clad faithful as Varnado, playing one of the best games, in this the final SEC game of his career, could only bury his head in his maroon No. 32 jersey.

If this game is a prelude for what's to come in the NCAA tourney, we need a new adjective to replace madness. That word doesn't do this game justice.