6 Kentucky at Roop Arena in Lexington, Kentucky on Wednesday night, LSU had everything going for more than 22 minutes.
After a solid first half, the Tigers took a 31–23 halftime lead and were still up 36–28 when Mavani Wilkinson buried a 3-point field goal from the corner with 17:38 in the game.
His lead at the time looked even bigger, given that Kentucky was playing for the second game in a row without injured starting guards Sahveer Wheeler and Tyty Washington.
But that's when it all fell apart for LSU.
Freshman Bryce Hopkins, who had scored just 10 points in 12 Southeastern Conference games, extended nine of Kentucky's next 11 points to give the Wildcats a 39–36 lead they never managed to claim a 71–66 victory over the Tigers. Didn't give up either.
This contributed greatly to the nightmare second half for Will Wade's team, which restricted Kentucky to a season-low 23 points in the half during the first 20 minutes.
"It's been a problem for us," said Wade after finishing with a career-high 13 points in 5 of Hopkins' 6 field-goal attempts. “We have let people down scouting reports really hurt us. He did it, and that was definitely disappointing.”
The 6-foot-6 Hopkins, who averaged 2.0 points this season, did not score in four games. He last scored two points in a win over Mississippi State on January 25.
With Hopkins' fuse burning, the Wildcats won the second half 48–35, while shooting 60.0% on the Tigers' 34.5%.
"Obviously, a tale of two halves," said Wade. "It's like the fifth game in a row that we have given 40-plus in the second half. We just can't keep it up. Our guilt is not enough to overcome that."
With an unexpected jolt from Hopkins, the Wildcats slowly took a 65-50 lead before LSU rallied in the final 34 seconds to reduce the deficit twice to four points.
The Tigers scraped by the end and threatened to take it out, even though Tari Eason, the team's leading scorer and second leading rebounder, saw the final 9:28 off the bench after fouling.
He played just 13 minutes and left with five points and one rebound - well above his season average of 16.9 points and 7.1 rebounds.
Ezon had topped the 20-point mark with a pair of double-doubles in the last four matches.
With its eighth loss in 12 games, LSU (19–9, 7–8 SEC) finished seventh with Florida and Mississippi State. Kentucky (23–5, 12–3) won for the eighth time in nine games and remained game back to league-leading Auburn.
Xavier Pinson put LSU early in it, even though he missed three consecutive layoffs to start the game.
He bounced back to score 16 points in the first half and finished with a game- and season-high 26 points and seven assists.
Pinson's previous best this season was 17 points against Lipscomb.
Eric Gaines came off the bench to score 11 points and was also crucial on the defense when full-court pressure from the Tigers forced four turnovers, which he converted into eight quick points to climb back into it.
Darius Days, LSU's second leading scorer, was held to 10 points in a 4-of-15 shooting night, while hitting just 2 out of 10 from beyond the arc. He had a team-high eight rebounds.
Oscar Tshibwe, a strong 6-9, 260-pound forward, posted his 22nd double-double with 16 points and 16 rebounds to help the Wildcats lead 36-24 on the backboard when he was 15-all at halftime. Stay tied.
Davian Mintz and Kellan Grady put Hopkins on 13-13 points.
In the end, Wade couldn't take solace in making it a game with Late Rush.
"At halftime we had an eight-point lead and just lit it up," he said. "I thought we were ready.
"We prepared and came out strong; we haven't played a full game yet, which is what you have to do if you're going to win on the road in this league."