BATON ROUGE, La. _ Ashton Hagans had been called the heartbeat of Kentucky's team. Immanuel Quickley was a "killer." And Tyrese Maxey was a three-time Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week.
After an uninspiring first half, the trio came alive to lead Kentucky to a 79-76 Victory at LSU on Tuesday night.
The winsome threesome scored UK's first eight points of the second half, and 23 of the first 29.
That enabled Kentucky to ease to its 21st victory in 26 games and improve its first-place record to 11-2 in the SEC.
Quickley, Maxey and Hagans combined to scored 31 points in the second half. Quickley led all scorers in the game with 21 points, 14 of which came in the second half. Maxey added 14 (11 in the second half) and Hagans added 11 (six in the second half).
A constant for Kentucky this season _ defense _ also played a big part in the victory. UK stifled a LSU team that came into the game with the eighth-best scoring average in the nation at 80.8 points. The Tigers also ranked 20th in shooting at 47.7 percent.
But LSU made only 39.4% of its shots.
LSU fell to 18-8 overall and 9-4 in the SEC.
Kentucky led 29-28 at halftime. That seemed like a sizable lead given how UK's three leading men played.
Hagans, Maxey and Quickley combined to commit five turnovers and make only five of 20 shots in the half. That included two of eight three-point shots. The second make _ by Hagans with 30 seconds left in the half _ gave UK its lead at intermission.
Defense helped put Kentucky ahead. LSU made only 10 of 32 shots in the first half. The Tigers' five starters _ all of whom carried a double-digit scoring average into the game _ made only eight of 27 shots.
Both teams twice led by four points in the first half. Neither led by more. There were 10 lead changes.
Another possession-by-possession test of wills to the final buzzer seemed in the offing.
UK's three guards came alive early in the second half. They scored UK's first eight points. Then Johnny Juzang's three-pointer gave Kentucky its largest lead yet, 40-32 with 17:37 left.
Juzang's basket marked the only score for Kentucky in the first nine-plus minutes of the second half not scored by Maxey, Quickley or Hagans.
Sestina's corner three-pointer _ set up by a pass from Hagans _ broke the three-guard monopoly of scoring and gave Kentucky its largest lead to that point: 56-47 with 10:47 left.
The lead twice grew to 15 points late in the game. But as if to test its nerves _ not to mention the anxiety of its fan base _ UK saw its lead dwindle to 78-74 with 18.9 seconds left. Hagans missed the end of the second half with a left thigh contusion.
But Kentucky held on. Quickley _ who else? _ made one of two free throws with 11.1 seconds left to clinch it.
