Kentucky Wildcats vs Louisiana State Tigers Match Player Stats On Feb 18, 2020

Immanuel Quickley scored 21 points and No. 10 Kentucky extended its lead in the Southeastern Conference by beating host LSU 79-76 on Tuesday night in Baton Rouge, La.

The Wildcats (21-5, 11-2) won their fifth consecutive game while the Tigers (18-8, 9-4), the defending SEC regular-season champions, lost for the fourth time in five games after winning their first eight conference games.

LSU fell into third place, a half-game behind No. 13 Auburn, which visits Georgia on Wednesday.

Tyrese Maxey scored 14, Nick Richards had 13 and Nate Sestina added 11. Ashton Hagans, who went to the bench late with a bruised thigh, also scored 11 points.

Kentucky, which made just 2 of 10 3-pointers in the first half after making 2 of 22 in a win against Ole Miss on Saturday, made its first seven 3-pointers of the second half to seize control.

Skylar Mays led LSU with 17 points, Darius Days had 13 points and 11 rebounds, Marlon Taylor scored 13, Charles Manning Jr. had 11 and Trendon Watford 10.

Mays' layup started the second-half scoring and turned a one-point Kentucky lead into a one-point LSU lead.

But Hagans' subsequent 3-pointer started an 8-0 run that gave Kentucky the biggest lead to that point at 37-30.

Mays made a 3-pointer and another jumper to pull the Tigers within 42-39.

Maxey and Quickley made 3-pointers as the Wildcats took a 50-42 lead, and Sestina's 3-pointer pushed the score to 56-47.

LSU closed within seven points three times before Sestina made consecutive 3-pointers to give Kentucky a 67-52 lead with 5:14 remaining.

The Tigers got within five points with 1:30 to play, but Richards made a layup with 49 seconds left to put the game out of reach.

The lead went back and forth in the first half and neither team led by more than four points.

The Wildcats scored the final five points of the half on a jumper by Richards and a 3-pointer by Hagans with 30 seconds left, which gave Kentucky a 29-28 halftime lead.

LSU did not make a field goal in the final 4:03 of the half.

--Field Level Media