UK Athletics Photo
Kentucky coach John Calipari warned that it would be a rock fight at Mississippi State.
He was right but it was Kentucky freshman Reed Sheppard who threw the biggest boulder of the night when he hit a 15-foot floater with only 0.5 seconds left to give the Cats a 91-89 win.
Calipari didn’t call timeout after Mississippi State hit a 3 to tie the game with 10 seconds left after UK squandered chances to put the game away. Sheppard made the move pay as he drove inside the State defense after a pass from D.J. Wagner with no hesitation and drilled the game-winning shot.
“Reed played amazing and a great game and hit a crazy shot at the end but he is built for that,” said Wagner.
Sheppard is built for it indeed. His basketball DNA is unreal but he plays with no fear. Make a mistake? No problem. He just maintains his poise and delivers big plays.
Sheppard wasn’t perfect — he did have two turnovers including one late in the game. He did miss three 3-point shots — but he made the other 11 shots he took, including four from 3.
Sheppard finished with a career-high 32 points. He was 6-for-6 at the foul line. He also had a team-high seven assists, five rebounds, two steals, and two blocks in 35 minutes.
“I have been screaming for Reed to take more shots,” UK Radio Network analyst Jack Givens said after Sheppard’s 23-point second-half performance that helped UK overcome a 13-point deficit with 18 minutes to play. “When the coach is telling you to shoot more, you have every reason to shoot.
“He did not pass up shots tonight. You can’t blame a guy for looking out for his teammates. You can’t get on a guy for that but there are times Reed needs to take shots and they want him to take shots because he is a shot maker and not just a shot taker.”
What makes Sheppard so special is that he does a lot more than just make shots.
Consider these scenarios:
— Kentucky was down 60-53 when Sheppard got inside to score. On the next possession, he had an assist to Adou Thiero and followed that with another score on UK’s next trip. Next came a deep 3-point bomb — “There is not a prettier jump shot in all of college basketball than this kid from Kentucky,” said ESPN analyst Jimmy Dykes. His offensive rebound set up an Antonio Reeves score and then Sheppard got a steal and finished with a layup. That was nine points, one assist, one rebound, and one steal in less than five minutes.
— The last 90 seconds he was so, so good. He hit a shot to give UK a 78-75 lead and scored again on a reverse layup after a Reeves steal, got fouled, and made the free throw. Next, he blocked a 3-point shot and then he atoned for his bad pass by hitting two free throws with 16.7 seconds left to make it 89-86. Not only did he hit the game-winning shot with 0.5 seconds left, but he also got the steal on the inbounds play.
“A lot of babies are going to be named Reed in Kentucky,” Dykes said. “What can he not do or has not done for Kentucky this year? This kid is special.”
Yes, he is and he’s also helping Kentucky maybe turn into a special team as well at just the right time of the year.
19 Responses
Reed Sheppard saved our ass tonight and Calipari didn’t say anything about his career high game in his postgame show. He talked mostly about Wagner and Dillingham. They had decent games, but we lose this game if not for Sheppard. Calipari sucks! Squeal about that all of you rah rahs!
You can cry to the river regardless what Cal has done, he did a master full job coaching this game. This team is turning the corner and sorry that the cats won and you wanted them to lose..
Come on Cats79 no corner has been turned. I even had my CONTENDER speech prepared. It was a great win that if most people were honest many thought we would end up losing. Reed and Reeves were outstanding!! We still have problems getting offensive boards, penetrating/defending inside and protecting against the three. We only got 7 boards and 6 points from the 5. Z has got to get more than 2 points in 21 mins. Bradshaw showed a little better but Onyenso always seems to be a step behind. Lucky we were and take it we will also!!
Gritty win. Go Cats!!!
Jimmy, you’re right. That was a gritty win, even though our defense took a big step backwards and our three 7 footers showed that they can’t hang with bigs with bulk. Without a healthy Mitchell, this team will only go as far as the guards can take them. We lost a game we should have won at LSU; tonight we won a game we should have lost and would have lost without the heroics from Sheppard. Calipari didn’t have one good thing to say about Sheppard in his post-game show. It’s like he is afraid that Sheppard is going to be the top draft pick of this team and he made deals with Wagner, Bradshaw, and Dillingham about them being the lottery picks. Calipari definitely has a conflict of interest here and it has hurt this team and our program. Calipari’s OAD bullcrap, Barnharts lifetime contract, the unregulated transfer portal, and NIL have ruined college basketball. CBS and ESPN laid the groundwork for this to come about. Money never brings out the good in anything. It has already made a mess of the NBA, NFL, and MLB. College football and basketball were the last refuges for the true sports fan. Now they are going the way of the pros…the way of the almighty dollar. I hoped I wouldn’t live long enough to see it and here it is. Maybe I can spend the rest of my days enjoying chess.
Thr King Troll speak BS as usual. Cal has no control over who is a Lottery pick. The shear ignorance of that statement is a simple reflection of a simple mind! ! ! Blah, Blah, Blah
And please Barry do us Rah Rahs a favor and enjoy the Chess 🙂 ! ! !
If he didn’t look so much like his Dad I would swear he’s an alien being !
No emotion, killer instinct and never sweats !!!???
Got a couple IU golf buddies that hate UK but watch every UK game because of Reed.
Anyone watching that game would recognize the huge, irreplacable play by Reed Sheppard, and any decent coach would have acknowledged Reed in his first sentence after the game. But, not this fraud.
Ball Hog #1 wanted to do, nearly did do exactly what he has done all season long, squander another UK possession with selfish, "I will be the hero" one on one play. He was out of control, and at the last possible moment gave up the ball, and fortunately for this team, Reed made the play.
But, not this fraud of a coach who singles out Ball Hog #1 in his post game remarks.
Reed Sheppard should be starting. He earned a starting role with his play early in the season.
If starting is not such a big deal, why do they play all the music, turn over the lights, and put the starters into spot lights before the opening tip?
Starting is a huge reward for players who give it their all like Reed does.
This team remains a first weekend out type of team. Last night’s game changes nothing except further expose to the world the PET BIAS that this fraud has, and has had since he arrived at UK in 2009.
Professor, Your concept of weather Reed starts or not is blown out of proportion. DJ played his best game last night. since reinjuring his ankle. This team will win out it’s remaining games and yes including the one at Knoxville. It’s a shame a cat fan hates to see the cats win and be so negative about this team. There several on this site are like that.
Professor, Sheppard averages the 3rd most mpg. behind Mitchell and Reeves. I am going to look into getting you and others Sheppards life coach phone number.
King Cal is into the Woke Idealology. He can’t start Reed. He won’t even talk about or even brag on him at all.
Too bad politics are in sports.
Rick Pitino tweeted some nice words about Reed and his parents.
I’ve never heard Cal speak about politics. You sound like you practice the Dictator Ideology. Since you love Slick Rick, be a St John’s fan.
Dictator is going to kick your Great Grandaddys a#@.
Wanna Bet Big Boy! You talk like a thug.
It wasn’t just Reed, it took the whole team to pulled this off and I thought everybody contributed one way and another during there time on the floor. Go Cats!!
Another asskissing Calipari loving opionion.
Some people can’t handle the truth Cats79. That is true with every game.
yeah its sad the state of life they live in. Go Cats!!
To those mentioning Cal’s “failure” to immediately acknowledge Reed, I get the point. I would, however, suggest his concern with promptly affirming DJ is wanting to clearly affirm his progress in his comeback from injury. He did play better, and we’re going to need him going forward. He is a guy who can also take a game over, and Cal knows if we’re going to make a run we need all 4 of those guards to show up for that one moment that will be theirs alone. As Denzel said in Training Day, “this sh$@ts chess, not checkers.” Cal knows, as we all do, that nobody in Kentucky is bigger now than Reed Sheppard. The dude is made for life here, he’s not worried about faint praise. Reed himself puts the team before his own name, that’s what makes him special.