John Calipari warned his team that Kentucky's rematch with Mississippi State would not go as smoothly as the first meeting, a 21-point victory by his Wildcats.

For almost 25 minutes of Saturday's game in Starkville, it looked like the UK boss was just blowing smoke. The Cats led the Bulldogs by 18 points and appeared to be cruising to another easy win.

That was before a staggering 19-2 run by Mississippi State trimmed the margin to one with 8:41 remaining at Humphrey Coliseum and set up a nail-biting finish that made Calipari's prediction hold true.

No. 5 Kentucky (20-3, 9-1 SEC) withstood the charge, holding off the Bulldogs for a 71-67 win that tested the Cats' mental toughness.

"I told the guys at halftime they're going to make a couple of runs," Calipari said. "I didn't think they had three in them, but I thought they had two. They never gave up. They thought they had a chance to win, and we got a little sloppy and loose.

"We just happened to get out of here alive."

It marked the 10th straight win for Kentucky, five of them coming on the road in SEC play.

PJ Washington scored a game-high 23 points for UK before fouling out in the final moments. Before exiting, he delivered three of the biggest buckets of the day: a shot in the lane after State had closed within one point; a short jumper after a 5-0 spurt by the Bulldogs with 3:49 remaining and another bucket in the paint that gave UK a six-point edge with 1:30 to go.

The Cats also got a key 3-pointer from freshman wing Tyler Herro at the 2:59 mark to push a four-point lead to seven. The Wisconsin native finished with 12 points, joining Washington and Keldon Johnson (13) in double figures. Ashton Hagans added eight points and nine assists.

Mississippi State (16-7, 4-6 SEC) hit all seven of its 3-pointers in the second half to make it interesting. Lamar Peters hit four of those as part of his team-high 16 points.

*****

In this Cats Illustrated "Rapid Recap" feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK victory...

THE GOOD:

Kentucky's offensive execution and spacing in the first half was outstanding. The Cats shot 53.3 percent, assisted on 10 of their 16 baskets, and had just three turnovers.

THE BAD:

That execution vanished between the first and second media timeouts of the second half. UK turned the ball over six times in a five-minute span and allowed State to start warming up from the 3-point arc. The next thing you know, it's a one-point game.

THE UGLY:

It did not ultimately factor into the outcome, but a blown call on a shot-clock reset cost the Cats a bucket by Nick Richards during State's second-half run. Richards missed a challenged dunk attempt, but teammate EJ Montgomery rebounded the ball and dished it back to him for another dunk, but the shot clock was never reset after the initial miss.

GAME BALL:

PJ Washington, Kentucky -- Another MVP performance for the Cats' sophomore forward, who turned in his fifth 20-point performance in the last six games. As the game got tight down the stretch, Washington delivered two of UK's last three buckets, each one helping keep State at bay.

BY THE NUMBERS:

0 - Points for MSU leading scorer Quinndary Weatherspoon in the first half. He finished with 14, four points under his season average.

3 - Turnovers in the first half by UK.

8 - Straight points by Kentucky's PJ Washington to open the game.

13 - Consecutive wins for UK over MSU.

23 - Points the most by a UK player at Humphrey Coliseum since Patrick Sparks scored 25 against MSU in 2006.

35-28 - Rebounding advantage for the Cats, led by eight from Reid Travis.

97-20 - Kentucky's all-time series lead over the Bulldogs.

QUOTABLE:

"There may have been a little bit of a letdown thinking they would roll over in the second half... We got a little sloppy." -- UK forward Reid Travis

UP NEXT:

Kentucky returns to action Tuesday at Rupp Arena for what should be a Top 25 matchup against LSU, which is off to its best start since the 1980-81 season. The No. 21 Tigers (18-4, 8-1 SEC) are playing host to Auburn this afternoon.