Kentucky's toughest tests are now behind it after escaping at LSU
A handful of times this season an SEC opponent has staggered unbeaten Kentucky with a barrage of body blows.
None has managed to unleash a knockout punch.
LSU was the latest to have the top-ranked Wildcats teetering Tuesday night, but the mistake-prone Tigers still lost 71-69 because they couldn't sustain their momentum once Kentucky's formidable defense stiffened. They only scored one field goal after taking a six-point lead with just over seven minutes to play, giving away a chance at a massive upset by going away from force feeding their two future NBA forwards, committing three costly turnovers and getting beaten repeatedly for offensive rebounds.
Two huge baskets by Karl-Anthony Towns were Kentucky's biggest shots of its late rally.
The first was an impossible step-back jumper at the shot clock buzzer that halted LSU's 21-2 second-half surge and launched the comeback. The second was a hook shot over the smaller Jordan Mickey in the paint that gave the Wildcats the lead for good with 90 seconds to go.
LSU still had two chances to win in the final minute, but both went to waste. The Tigers were within one when Josh Gray dribbled into a thicket of Kentucky defenders with the shot clock melting away and couldn't find enough daylight to get a shot off. They then went for the win down two on their final possession but Keith Hornsby did not get over a screen from Mickey cleanly and ended up badly missing a heavily contested three at the buzzer.
Kentucky's latest win is its second narrow escape in three nights and its fourth of SEC play. Ole Miss took the Wildcats to overtime in Lexington in their SEC opener. Texas A&M took the Wildcats to double overtime in College Station a few nights later. And on Saturday night in Gainesville, Florida hung within a basket or two the entire second half before succumbing.
Now that its back-to-back road games against the Gators and Tigers are out of the way, there aren't many potential pitfalls for Kentucky (24-0, 11-0) prior to the postseason.
A Feb. 28 home game against second-place Arkansas might be tricky, but Kentucky seldom loses at Rupp. The toughest road game left comes March 3 against a Georgia team that was competitive in Lexington without its best player Marcus Thornton. The Wildcats' only other two road games are against rebuilding Tennessee and overmatched Mississippi State, neither of which figure to pose a major threat.
Wasting its chance has to be especially frustrating for LSU for several reasons.
The Tigers (17-7, 6-5) could certainly have used a marquee win to solidify themselves as a surefire NCAA tournament team. They also have to be wondering why they can't play with the level of urgency they showed Tuesday all the time, as evidenced by previous SEC losses to bottom feeders Mississippi State, Missouri and Auburn.
LSU showed it has the talent to stay with Kentucky when playing its best. But like every other SEC team so far this season, the Tigers didn't have a knockout blow in their arsenal.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
