1996 SEC Tournament Championship Game: Mississippi State vs Kentucky

Mississippi State vs Kentucky in the 1996 SEC Tournament Championship game in New Orleans. Mississippi State went on to beat 1seed UCONN and 2seed Cincinnati, advancing to the Final Four, and Kentucky went on to win the 1996 National Championship. The 84-73 win gave Mississippi State it's first ever SEC Tournament Championship. On Kentucky's roster were 9 future NBA players - Anderson, Delk, McCarty, Walker, Pope, Mercer, Mohammed, Sheppard, Turner. Mississippi State had two future NBA players - Erick Dampier and Dontae' Jones. All video content belongs to the SEC and CBS.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Mississippi State
• SEC
• Kentucky
• Darryl Wilson
• Erick Dampier
• Dontae Jones
• basketball
• MSU basketball
• Mississippi State basketball
• 1996
• SEC Tournament

[jcaudill6921]

@jephsteph yep.

[jcaudill6921]

@M1cool1 Kobe was drafted by the Hornets at 13th but refused to play for anyone other than the Lakers. He pulled an Eli Manning and that is why the Nets took Kittles at 8 instead of Kobe which is what they wanted to do. I think its bull crap that a kid can do that but oh well..

[jcaudill6921]

@toddky32 Rumor has it that Pitino threw this game to let this team know they weren't invincible right before the NCAA tournament and did you notice how long he kept Antoine Walker out of the game? Makes you wonder, huh?

[toddky32]

This was a great Miss St team. I'm a Kentucky fan but have the upmost respect for the Bulldog program. The beat one of the greatest college teams of all time . This game I think woke UK up and brought home the sixth championship. It would have been awesome too see these two play for the championship unfortunately Syracuse got in the way. Miss St has a great team this year that will be another great game at The Hump. Go Cats 96 and hopefully 2012 National Champions !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[26michaeluk]

As a UK fan this loss was shocking. But I also think losing this game helped us win the title by showing we werent unbeatable. State was really good and almost ended up meeting us in the title game. I have always thought Miss State is THE program of the west and always a nemesis to Kentucky and our battles have been legendary. It seems we play for the SEC title almost every year. Anyways thanks for posting this

[weedie5582]

Man kentucky got done in,point blank.My bro(Dontae Jones)made mercer look like a fool out there real talk.

[toddky32]

@arachnophobia1776 I agree with you 100 % that makes the conference so much better. The Arkansas games during that time were classics would love too see them both get back to that level. That 96 Miss State team was awesome I was rooting for them when they beat Uconn, Cincinnati and even against Syracuse. That would have been awesome an all SEC final. Main thing though UK won # 6 what a great team and well deserved national champion .

[M1cool1]

I'm just reading an article about just-out of high school Kobe at his pre-draft workouts. "The Lakers set it up at the old Fabulous Forum in Inglewood, Kobe matching up with Dontae Jones, a big, physical, 6-foot-8 senior who had just led Mississippi State to the Final Four. It was no contest; Kobe destroyed Jones from the word “go.” GM Jerry West came down from the stands saying ‘Shut down the workout’. He didn’t need to see any more. That was it. Game over." The Lakers got Kobe that draft.

[springjo1]

@MysticSonic007 The SEC is so underated. This had to be an exciting year for your team, because this was during the 90's when Kentucky was so dominate in every other way. For your team to have beaten the great team that Kentucky was back then is really impressive. Also, didn't the Bulldogs make it thier one and only Final Four that year? I say this as a strong Kentucky fan.

[pp3k3jamail]

that was a ass beating