Scott Padgett still remembers how teammate Mark Pope could stay positive even when former UK coach Rick Pitino was screaming at them. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Mississippi State has had a NCAA Tournament team the last two years but seems way, way better this year.
The Bulldogs are one of only five teams still unbeaten in Southeastern Conference play after two games, are 14-1 overall and 4-0 in Quad 1 games. Now No. 14 Mississippi State has a chance to add a marquee win when it hosts Kentucky Saturday night hoping to end an 18-game regular-season losing streak to the Cats.
Mississippi State extended its season’s long winning streak to eight games with a 76-64 road triumph over Vanderbilt Tuesday. Kentucky has not lost at Starkville since 2008.
“They’re really aggressive, they’re a high-turnover-forcing team. They’re really aggressive on the glass, a top-30 team on the offensive glass,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said on his weekly radio show. “It’s kind of the bio of everybody in the SEC. I know Coach (Chris) Jans really well, he’s a terrific coach. He’s done a great job. It’ll be in a venue that’s going to be a terrific, spirited venue. So it’ll be a great challenge for us.”
Former UK standout Scott Padgett is part of Jans’ staff and said the Bulldogs are different from recent teams.
“Offensively we added a lot of people who can do different things with the ball. In the past we have not been able to shoot well overall but we have added guys who can make shots but area also good in transition and good at making plays for others,” said Padgett on WPBK-FM Thursday.
“We usually have five guys on the floor now who can score where the last two years it was basically two guys. Defensively we have been good but the last three or four games our guys have figured out more about what to do and started playing defense like they are capable of doing.”
Padgett, a Louisville native, said UK’s offensive depth with six players averaging in double figures jumps out at him.
“They have great movement both with the players and the ball on offense. They shoot more 3’s than most team but they also put a lot of pressure on you to defend the 3 and also their cutting to the rim,” Padgett, a starter on UK’s 1998 national title team, said.
“Defensively Otega (Oweh) and (Lamont) Butler and (Amari) Williams are all big-time defenders and allow other guys to pressure more than they maybe did at previous schools because they can get help.
“They are getting better. They have a bunch of dudes who have never played together before and it takes time to get that chemistry right. If they are all locked in on a certain day they can beat Duke and Gonzaga. Some days it is not all there as much as others. They are getting there but that does not mean they cannot have a setback. They are very talented with great size and length. They are just a very good team.”
Padgett knows Kentucky was far from its best against Georgia in Tuesday’s loss. He expects a different Kentucky team Saturday night.
“When a good team loses they will have a bounce back,” Padgett said. “They did not have a great game against Georgia but I expect them to be back at their best.”
Padgett scored over 1,000 points in his collegiate career and played in two national title games. He also played eight years in the NBA.
Kentucky coach Mark Pope was his UK teammate for two seasons.
“What I remember most about Pope is he was just like the guy he is now,” Padgett said. “He was always a guy that was so positive and upbeat about everything. Coach P (Rick Pitino) was yelling at him and he was still positive. I thought that was a super power of his. When Coach yelled at me, I was not always positive.”
Padgett’s wife is a former UK volleyball player and he had a son who just played his last year on the UK football team.
“Anybody who knows me knows how competitive I am,” Padgett said on WPBK. “I want to kick your butt no matter what it is. I hope they (UK) win every game we don’t play them but Saturday night I will do whatever I can to help us get another win.”
3 Responses
2 legends in their own right.
Pope & Padgett
I still remember Padgett draining a 3 from
The head of the key to start a rally in the Regionals to overcome about a 17 point deficit to defeat Duke in 1998(?) in St Petersburg, FL(?), as well as many other games.
I had hoped do see Padgett join the UK staff but ther e are only so many openings.
Go Big Blue. Gonna be a great UK WildCat on the coaching staff of the winner! Just hope it’s UK!
Cannot afford to lose 2 in a row in the SEC if the SEC regular season crown is a goal. In fact, can’t lose another game except road games @ TN & AL & maybe vs AUB to have a shot with 4 conference losses.
It was 98 in St. Petersburg Fla.
His jumper tied it or put us ahead after we were 17 points down.
I was there. We got 17 down and I told my buddy if we got any further behind I was going to the bar across the street. Then, here we go.
Best, most exciting, fun game I’ve ever been to. Then, the after party with Kentucky fans I’d never met before was awesome!
WOW–I was at that ’98 UK/DUKE game as well, and probably the best KY game I have ever witnessed, as far as games I have seen in person. Its one of the best games and one of the biggest wins in UK BBALL history, for sure. And Scott Padgett’s celebratory scream after making the 3 to put us up 3 is one that is always etched in your memory, and that u don’t ever forget. His shot, and Cameron Mills’s shot, that gave us our first lead of the game, are the two significant moments from that game, that always stick out. But that team was truly a total team effort in everything they did. Everybody played a part, and a role. Guys like Heshimu Evans and Allen Edwards hit big 3s in that game to get that comeback started. And then the coach on the floor–the Floor General–the player who played in the most amount of winning games at UK than any other player in history: Wayne Turner. He took over the second half and opened up our offense by completing dominating Little Wojo. That was a memorable group. They won everything as a team and came back on you after being left for dead MULTIPLE TIMES—thats why they were called THE COMEBACK CATS. It was a group who truly knew what it took to win–they were the best of what was left from the previous 3-4 yr run–a group who played in 3 straight national championship games, and won two of them. Sickenly denied a fair shot at a 3-peat with their whole team. That’s part of what made that ’98 championship so special: for that group who had been thru that pain the year before, and who knew what it felt like, and had another opportunity at it. The COMEBACK CATS was truly fitting for that group, in more ways than one.