LEXINGTON, Ky. — Darius Miller let the three-pointer go from the top of the key.
When it swished through the net to clinch Kentucky’s biggest victory of the season, the normally reserved forward turned and stuck his tongue out in celebration.
Saving a season sure tasted sweet.
Miller scored a career-high 24 points and the 22nd-ranked Wildcats surged past No. 13 Florida 76-68 on Saturday, the kind of confidence-boosting victory Kentucky needed following another late-game road meltdown against Arkansas on Wednesday that left Coach John Calipari questioning his team’s toughness.
He got some answers against the Gators, particularly from Miller. Calipari challenged Miller after a lossat Florida three weeks ago, pointing out his mistakes in a 70-68 loss.
Miller atoned with the best game of his career, adding 5 rebounds, 3 assists and3 steals in 35 minutes.
“He told me I was going to have to step up for us to win, for us to be a good team,” Miller said. “I just tried to come out and play aggressive.”
Brandon Knight added 16 points and six assists without turning it over as the Wildcats (20-8, 8-6 SEC) won their 33rd consecutive home game and gave Calipari his 500th career victory.
That number includes 42 victories Calipari-coached teams at Memphis and Massachusetts were required to forfeit by the NCAA for violations during his tenure, though he has never been found at fault for the infractions.
“All I was worried about was [victory] No. 20,” Calipari said. “That stuff is, you coach long enough and you survive. I’ve been fired once, but you survive.”
Kenny Boynton led Florida (22-6, 11-3) with 21 points, and Chandler Parsons added15 points and eight rebounds. But the Gators, who clinched a share of the SEC East title with a victory over Georgia on Thursday night, couldn’t keep up with the Wildcats in the second half.
“About 10-12 minutes to go in the game, our frontcourt just couldn’t quite finish around the basket that I thought were some opportunities to really stay within striking range,” Florida Coach Billy Donovan said. “Then once [the deficit] got to eight or 10 we were constantly playing from behind.” NO. 18 VANDERBILT 90, LSU 69
BATON ROUGE, La. - Jeffery Taylor scored 20 points and No. 18 Vanderbilt (21-7, 9-5 SEC) outscored LSU (11-18, 3-11) 49-26 in the second half for a comfortable victory.
John Jenkins overcame a slow start to finish with 17 points for Vanderbilt, which bounced back from its first loss in six games Tuesday against state rival Tennessee.
Vanderbilt, which shot 54.4 percent (31 of 57), trailed 43-41 at halftime but surged into the lead for good early in the second half with a 14-0 run during which Taylor dunked twice and hit two free throws.
Storm Warren had a career-high 24 points and Ralston Turner added 18 for LSU, which has lost 11 of 12 games.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 70, TENNESSEE 69
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Wendell Lewis dunked with three seconds left as Mississippi State (15-13, 7-7 SEC) held off Tennessee (17-12, 7-7) for its first victory in Knoxville since 1999.
Riley Benock missed a three-pointer for Mississippi State, fouled Scotty Hopson on the other end, and Hopson hit the first of two free throws. The ball was tipped out of bounds and went to Tennessee after Hopson missed the second shot, and Tobias Harris dunked the inbound pass for a 69-68 lead with 10 seconds left.
Dee Bost drove the length of the floor and passed to Lewis, who dunked and was fouled by Brian Williams. Lewis missed his free throw, but Hopson missed a shot from half-court as time expired.
Ravern Johnson led Mississippi State with 20 points. Hopson had 22 points for the Vols.
MISSISSIPPI 68, ALABAMA 63
OXFORD, Miss. - Chris Warren scored 25 points, Zach Graham added 17 and Mississippi (18-11, 6-8 SEC) overcame an 11-point deficit to beat Alabama (19-9, 11-3).
Ole Miss won for just the second time in five games and split the season series with the Crimson Tide. Warren scored 18 of his 25 points in the second half.
The 5-10 senior, who hit a layup over three defenders to give the Rebels a 64-58 lead with 1:40 remaining, made 9 of 11 free throws and added 5 assists and 2 steals.
JaMychal Green scored 17 points to lead Alabama, which saw its four-game winning streak end. Chris Hines scored 15 and Tony Mitchell added 13.
GEORGIA 64, SOUTH CAROLINA 48
ATHENS, Ga. - Trey Thompkins scored 20 points, Travis Leslie added 15 and Georgia (19-9, 8-6 SEC) cruised to a victory it had to have, blowing out South Carolina (14-13, 5-9).
Coming off a loss at Florida, the Bulldogs knew another defeat against last-place South Carolina would be a huge blow to their NCAA Tournament chances.
Georgia raced out to an 11-point lead before the game was 10 minutes old, making it 17-6 on Jeremy Price’s dunk, and the Bulldogs were up 39-22 at the half.
South Carolina had a miserable shooting night, going 1 of 19 from three-point range and finishing 17 of 60 (28 percent) overall. Malik Cooke led South Carolina with 11 points.
Sports, Pages 31 on 02/27/2011