Bigby-Williams’ tip gives LSU 73-71 victory at Kentucky

$1-dollar gets you TigerBait.com Premium for 30 Days. CLICK HERE to subscribe

Kavell Bigby-Williams tipped in a missed Skylar Mays shot at the buzzer to give LSU a 73-71 Southeastern Conference victory against Kentucky at Rupp Arena on Tuesday night.

DECISIVE STRETCH OF THE GAME

A Naz Reid field goal put the Tigers ahead 69-64 with 2:14 remaining in the game. But, the Wildcats were not done. PJ Washington’s three-point play with 1:59 left cut Kentucky’s deficit to two points. After Reid missed a shot, Washington tied the score at 69-69 with a field goal at the 1:42 mark. Both teams then had empty possessions. Tremont Waters missed a shot for LSU. Keldon Johnson missed a field goal attempt for Kentucky. Reid then stole the ball from Reid Travis, who rebounded Johnson’s missed shot. Two foul shots by Waters put the Tigers in front 71-69 with 20 seconds to play. Tyler Herro missed a field goal attempt, but Travis rebounded for Kentucky. Johnson was then fouled and made two free throws with six seconds remaining to tie the score at 71-71. Mays caught the inbounds pass and dribbled the length of the floor. He missed a shot in the lane setting the stage for Bigby-Williams’ game-winning tip.

LSU PLAYER OF THE GAME

Emmitt Williams was a force off the bench as he finished with 12 points and six rebounds in 19 minutes. Williams, who also blocked two shots, made all five of his field goal attempts. Ten of Williams’ 12 points came in the second half. Williams’ 12 points were his most since he scored 15 against South Carolina on Jan. 19. Williams’ six rebounds were also his most since the game against the Gamecocks when he grabbed 13 boards.

KEY TEAM STATISTICS

Field goal shooting: LSU 43% (24-of-56), Kentucky 42% (25-of-60)

Three-point field goal shooting: LSU 29% (6-of-21), Kentucky 26% (5-of-19)

Free throw shooting: LSU 86% (19-of-22), Kentucky 70% (16-of-23)

Rebounds: Kentucky 39, LSU 32

Offensive rebounds: Kentucky 15, LSU 9

Second-chance points: Kentucky 17, LSU 12

Blocked shots: LSU 4, Kentucky 1

Steals: LSU 8, Kentucky 3

Bench points: LSU 23, Kentucky 10

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

LSU

Tremont Waters: 15 points, 5 assists

Naz Reid: 12 points, 7 rebounds

Emmitt Williams: 12 points, 6 rebounds

Skylar Mays: 11 points

Javonte Smart: 8 points, 5 assists

Kavell Bigby-Williams: 5 points, 5 rebounds

KENTUCKY

PJ Washington: 20 points, 9 rebounds

Keldon Johnson: 16 points, 5 rebounds

Tyler Herro: 12 points

Reid Travis: 9 points, 9 rebounds

EJ Montgomery: 6 points, 5 rebounds

NOTES

LSU’s starting lineup consisted of Bigby-Williams and Reid in the post, Mays and Marlon Taylor on the wings and Waters at point guard. All five starters played more than 20 minutes. Smart played 28 minutes off the bench. Waters was on the floor for 38 minutes. . .Both Waters and Mays had bad shooting nights. Both players were 3-of-13 from the field. Waters was 1-of-5 on 3-pointers, while Mays was 1-of-6 from behind the 3-point line. . .Smart also struggled as he made only two of his seven field goal attempts. . .Reid was 5-of-10 from the field, including 2-of-4 on 3-pointers. . .Bigby-Williams made both of his field goal attempts. . .Taylor had seven points in 23 minutes. Darius Days had three points and three rebounds in 9 minutes. . .Kentucky point guard Ashton Hagans ended with only four points and one assist. . .Washington was 7-of-13 from the field. . .LSU scored eight straight points late in the first half to take a 30-29 lead. Days and Mays knocked down 3-pointers in that stretch. . .Kentucky closed the half on an 11-2 run to go on top 40-32. Herro had two field goals in that span. . .The Wildcats took a nine-point lead on four occasions in the first four minutes of the second half. LSU finally tied the score at 54-54 when Waters sank two free throws with 9:47 remaining in the game. The Tigers went ahead 58-56 on a basket by Williams with 8:15 to play. . .The victory was LSU’s first against a top-five team in 12 seasons. The Tigers defeated No. 3 Florida 66-56 at the PMAC in 2007. LSU only had one other victory against a top-five team on its home floor. The Tigers beat No. 5 Kentucky 65-60 at Rupp Arena in 1980. . .Both teams are 20-4 overall. LSU is 10-1 in the SEC, while Kentucky is 9-2. The Tigers are one-half game behind Tennessee, which plays South Carolina on Wednesday. . .The paid attendance was 23,490.

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM

Coach Will Wade’s comments: “Obviously, this was a great win for us. We were on our heels in the first half. We played a lot better in the second half. We were aggressive. We guarded them. We drove and got in the paint and we got fouled. We were not ourselves in the first half. We stuck with what we do. Our guys believe in what we are doing. We fortunate at the end of the game. The ball goes off the rim and we made a play. I don’t think the actual play is reviewable. Only the clock is reversible. We have been getting down double digits. We only got down by nine. We stayed tight.”

UP NEXT

LSU will play Georgia at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. Central. The Bulldogs (10-14, 1-10) lost to Texas A&M 73-56 in College Station on Tuesday night. The LSU-Georgia game will be available on the SEC Network.

LSU Tigers Antigua Desert Dry Engage Polo – Purple/White