BATON ROUGE, La. — As LSU's Tyrell Ward was mobbed on the court by jubilant fans, including women's basketball star Angel Reese, Kentucky coach John Calipari and the Wildcats could only watch the celebration as they waited for a brief video review of the frenetic and final -second sequence that killed them.
Ward capped a 17-point performance with a short floater as time expired, and LSU earned a second straight win over a ranked team with a 75-74 victory over No. 17 Kentucky on Wednesday night.
“We loved him more than they did, plain and simple,” Ward said. “I would definitely say we're finding more ways to win.”
The Wildcats nearly sealed a dramatic comeback in the final minute when Adou Thiero blocked Jordan Wright's shot in the final seconds. Wright was able to push the ball up in front of the rim, where Ward jumped to grab the ball and quickly hit his decisive shot before falling.
“Adou blocks it; I could watch the tape and say, 'Who didn't catch that ball, the winning ball, who didn't catch it and why?'” Calipari said. “Why not get on the ground? Just tie him up and we'll win the game.”
Calipari lamented that the inability to secure several loose balls cost his team the game.
“That's all we talk about,” Calipari said. “If you don't get 50 or 50 balls, you can't win… They put pressure on us with those balls, which made the difference.”
Ward's basket sent jubilant fans to the ground as security officials rushed to cordon off an area around both benches in an effort to minimize mixing between spectators and teams.
Reese wrapped her arms around Ward's shoulders as she happily jumped to his side, but Ward said he didn't realize she was there.
“I passed out as soon as the shot went in,” Ward said. “I can't remember. I didn't know anything that was going on.”
Wright and Jalen Reed each scored 13 points for LSU (14-12, 6-7 Southeastern Conference), which erased a 15-point second-half deficit against Kentucky. Wednesday's victory came one game after the Tigers overcame a 16-point second-half deficit to win 64-63 at then-No. 11 South Carolina on Saturday.
According to ESPN Stats & Information research, LSU is the first team in SEC history to win consecutive games by exactly one point and against AP-ranked teams.
“I'm very proud of our players,” LSU second-year coach Matt McMahon said. “Over the last week, we've seen how tough we need to play. I think that has to be the foundation of their program.
“We really came together as a team and found ways to do it,” he added. “It's a special week, certainly something we can build on.”
Antonio Reeves scored 25 points for Kentucky (18-8, 8-5), which has now suffered five losses in its last nine games. Rob Dillingham scored 22 of his 24 points in the second half. His jumper when he was fouled with 53 seconds left, followed by his baseline jumper with 13 seconds left, briefly gave the Wildcats a 74-73 lead.
“The last minute wasn't a work of art, but it was up to me and the guys found a way to win anyway,” McMahon said.
Kentucky closed the first half on a 12-1 run during which Reeves hit a three-pointer and a fastbreak layup. Justin Edwards' 3-pointer gave the Wildcats a 36-27 halftime lead.
Kentucky opened the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers from Edwards and Reeves to make the score 42-27, but Derek Fountain's layup soon after sparked a 21-4 LSU run that included back-to-back 3-pointers from Wright and ended with back-to-back layups from Reed. and Hunter Dean to put the Tigers up 48-46.
Reed Sheppard broke the run with a layup while being fouled and completed the 3-point play, but the game was close from that point on.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
