Kentucky vs. Mississippi State Game Offers Rare Middling Opportunity

Saturday's game between Kentucky and Mississippi State offered an opportunity to bet both sides and profit in a big way.

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This one resulted in Mississippi State losing by four points.  But the line had moved from Kentucky -4.5 to -3.5 at some books.  This means that someone could have bet Mississippi State at +4.5 at one book and Kentucky -3.5 at another.

The Wildcats let an 18-point lead early in the second half dwindle to just one possession with 1:18 remaining before a defensive stop in the final seconds sealed the win.

PJ Washington scored 23 points, Keldon Johnson added 13 and Tyler Herro had 12, including a crucial 3-pointer with three minutes left. Kentucky (20-3, 9-1 Southeastern Conference) hasn't lost since its conference opener against Alabama on Jan. 5.

The Wildcats looked like they might cruise to the win after Washington hit a 3-pointer early in the second half to give them a 49-31 lead. But Mississippi State responded with a huge run to pull within 51-50 on a pair of free throws by Quinndary Weatherspoon with 8:41 left.

Washington and Ashton Hagans hit back-to-back layups to squash the Bulldogs' momentum, but Mississippi State kept fighting and Weatherspoon made a free throw to cut Kentucky's advantage to 70-67 with 1:18 left.

"Once we turned the defense up, I feel like that's when we're better offensively," Mississippi State guard Nick Weatherspoon said. "We got going, started getting points in transition and felt like we got them on their heels."

- Mary Montgomery, Gambling911.com (Associated Press used in this article)