Starkville, Miss. — Mario Austin sank his first career three-pointer with seven seconds left in regulation, then made five free throws in overtime as Mississippi State stunned No. 6 Kentucky, 74-69, Saturday in the SEC opener.
Austin scored a career-high 32 points and Derrick Zimmerman had 14 for the Bulldogs (14-1), who trailed by 16 points at halftime. The last time the Bulldogs beat a top-10 opponent at home was nearly seven years ago against Arkansas.
Tayshaun Prince scored 18 to lead Kentucky (9-3), but had just four points in the second half when the Bulldogs went to a zone defense. He only took one shot in overtime.
"We started standing around a little bit, and that was why we weren't getting good opportunities in the second half," Prince said.
The Bulldogs trailed 65-62 with the shot clock winding down when Austin, 0-for-2 from three-point range in his career, sank a jumper from the top of the circle to tie it.
"It was luck," the sophomore center said. "I didn't have much time to think about it."
Mississippi State made just one field goal in overtime, but hit 7-of-8 free throws.
Mississippi State is off to its best start in 40 years, though the Bulldogs haven't gotten much credit because of a less-than-formidable schedule.
"I'm sure that people now know that we're a pretty good team," Austin said. "
No. 4 Virginia, No. 5 Oklahoma State, No. 7 Illinois and No. 9 Iowa also lost to unranked opponents Saturday.
Losses by Oklahoma State (12-1), Virginia (9-1) and No. 21 Miami (14-1) left top-ranked Duke (12-0) as the only unbeaten Division I team. The Blue Devils were idle.
No. 3 Florida 69,
South Carolina 60
Gainesville, Fla. Udonis Haslem had 24 points and 10 rebounds as Florida opened defense of its SEC title by beating South Carolina (10-4). The Gators (12-1) won their school-record 11th straight game.
North Carolina State 81,
No. 4 Virginia 74
Charlottesville, Va. Julius Hodge scored 21 points on near-perfect shooting, and N.C. State (11-3, 1-1 ACC) ended a 13-game losing streak at University Hall. Travis Watson led Virginia (9-1, 0-1) with 20 points.
Wisconsin 72, No. 7 Illinois 66
Madison, Wis. Charlie Wills scored 19 points in the biggest victory yet for the Badgers (8-7, 1-1 Big Ten) under first-year coach Bo Ryan. Cory Bradford had 13 for Illinois (12-3, 1-1), which had won six straight.
Ohio St. 72, No. 9 Iowa 62
Columbus, Ohio Brian Brown scored 19 points as Ohio State stunned Iowa (12-4, 1-1). The win was the fourth in a row for OSU (10-2, 2-0 Big Ten).
Pittsburgh 77,
No. 11 Boston College 74
Boston Brandin Knight scored 20 points as Pittsburgh dealt Boston College its first home loss in almost two years. Pitt held Troy Bell, the Big East's top scorer, without a point for the first 25 minutes.
No. 13 Cincinnati 72,
East Carolina 62
Greenville, N.C. Steve Logan scored 24 points and hit eight free throws in the final three minutes as Cincinnati (13-1) held off East Carolina in the Conference-USA opener.
No. 16 Syracuse 73, Providence 66
Providence, R.I. Kueth Duany scored all 16 of his points in the second half as Syracuse (13-2, 2-0 Big East) rallied to beat Providence (9-6, 0-2).
No. 18 Alabama 76, LSU 74
Tuscaloosa, Ala. Terrance Meade scored four points in the final 38 seconds including two free throws with 1.3 left and Alabama (13-2) rallied past LSU (10-4) in the SEC opener for both teams.Rod Grizzard led five Alabama players in double figures with 19 points.
Minnesota 70,
No. 19 Michigan St. 67
Minneapolis Jerry Holman scored 16 points, and Rick Rickert added 15 as Minnesota (8-5) beat Michigan State (9-5) in the Big Ten opener.
Connecticut 76,
No. 21 Miami 75
Stoors, Conn. Johnnie Selvie made two free throws with 5.7 seconds left as Connecticut (8-2, 2-0 Big East) snapped Miami's 14-game winning streak. Caron Butler led UConn with 18 points.
No. 23 Wake Forest 84, North Carolina 62
Chapel Hill, N.C. Josh Howard scored 20 points and Steve Lepore added 15 as Wake Forest (11-3, 2-0 ACC) handed Carolina (5-6, 1-1) its worst defeat at Smith Center.
Rutgers 89,
No. 24 Georgetown 87, OT
Piscataway, N.J. Herve Lamizana scored six of his career-high 19 points in overtime including two free throws with 13.2 seconds left as Rutgers (10-4, 1-1) handed Georgetown (9-5, 0-2) its fourth straight loss.
Charlotte 76,
No. 25 Marquette 68
Charlotte, N.C. Jobey Thomas scored 26 points to lead Charlotte past Marquette.
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