Reed Sheppard’s scoring outputs were measly during a three-game stretch until No. 16 Kentucky traveled to Mississippi State.
Sheppard broke out of his slump with a career-best 32 points and made the tiebreaking basket with 0.5 seconds left on Tuesday night. Now he will ride a wave of confidence into Saturday’s Southeastern Conference game against Arkansas in Lexington, Ky.
Sheppard, a freshman guard, averaged just 6.3 points during the trio of games before the breakout performance in the 91-89 win over Mississippi State. He made 11 of 14 field-goal attempts, including four 3-pointers, and was stellar all-around with seven assists, five rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots.
The Wildcats (20-8, 10-5 SEC) had to recover from a 13-point, second-half deficit to knock off the Bulldogs. And it meant a great deal to Sheppard to be the one who knocked down the winning shot.
His parents, Jeff and Stacey, both played basketball at Kentucky. The former Stacey Reed played for the Kentucky women from 1991-95 and still ranked second in career steals (309) and sixth in career assists (442) entering this season.
Jeff Sheppard played on two national championship teams for Kentucky (1993-98) and is deeply beloved in the Bluegrass State after being named Most Outstanding Player of the 1998 Final Four.
“It was really cool,” Reed Sheppard said of making the decisive shot. “Growing up as a little kid, I always wanted to play at Kentucky. So, going out there and getting the game-winning shot for Kentucky was really special for me. This group of guys is really close on and off the court.”
Sheppard is third on the Wildcats in scoring at 12.5 points per game and leads the team in assists (4.3) and his tenacious defense has led him to compile an SEC-leading 76 steals.
“He plays to win,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said of Sheppard. “He’s not playing not to lose. He’s steady.”
Antonio Reeves ranks third in the SEC with a 19.9 scoring average. Backup Rob Dillingham is second on the Wildcats with a 14.8 average.
Arkansas (14-14, 5-10) is enduring a rough season but Khalif Battle recently emerged to put together the school’s best two-game scoring stretch in 51 years.
Battle has 78 points in the past two games — a career-best 42 against Missouri followed by 36 points in Tuesday’s 85-82 home loss to Vanderbilt. The last Arkansas player with a better two-game stretch was Martin Terry, who had 82 in 1973.
Battle tallied six rebounds, three assists and three steals in the loss to the Commodores. But he also had six turnovers.
“As bad as we were as a whole, including myself, we were one possession away,” Battle said. “That’s the part that’s the hardest. One more stop, one more shot, one more rebound.
“That’s the part that’s the hardest to cope with right now. It’s just tough.”
Battle implored his teammates not to let up. The Razorbacks’ only way into the NCAA Tournament is by winning the SEC tourney and they can only get there by raising their level of play.
“We’ve still got basketball left, still got the conference tournament,” Battle said. “The work does not stop. We’ve just got to keep on pushing.”
The splurge improved Battle’s scoring average to 12.7, second on the Razorbacks behind Tramon Mark (16.8).
Kentucky has won 10 of the past 13 meetings, including a 63-57 road triumph on Jan. 27. Reeves scored 24 points for the Wildcats.
–Field Level Media
