LEXINGTON — Driving toward the basket on the opening possession of Wednesday’s second half, Mississippi State forward Cameron Matthews let it fly just before he reached the semicircle in the paint.

The ball never came close to reaching the rim.

Kentucky freshman forward Aaron Bradshaw leaped up and blocked the ball into the row of photographers sitting courtside.

It was but one example of the Wildcats’ defensive effort Wednesday.

While UK has forged its identity this season on its high-flying, high-octane offense, on this night, its defense stepped up when needed — and helped send MSU back to the Magnolia State with another loss, as the 10th-ranked Wildcats walked away with a 90-77 victory at Rupp Arena.

"It's playing desperate," Kentucky coach John Calipari said of the mentality needed to excel defensively. "Are you willing to do that? Or am I too cool to play desperate? Then you can't be in on this team. Because did you kind of see it doesn't matter who the five are on offense? It really doesn't matter. We'll score with whatever five we put in.

"That means you better be rebounding, you better be defending, you better be talking, you better be connected to us — or I can play somebody else. That's not a threat."

Wednesday marked the 400th win at Kentucky for the longtime coach, now in his 15th season guiding the program.

And UK (13-3, 3-1 SEC) gave its coach his milestone triumph by holding the visitors to a 44.9 (31 for 69) shooting percentage and forcing nine turnovers. The Wildcats also had seven blocked shots against the Bulldogs (12-5, 1-3), who dropped their second straight outing and third in four conference contests.

Calipari said one tweak UK made defensively was how it defended pick and rolls.

"(It was) an executive decision," he said. "They liked it. I liked it. Now we're going to really zero in on getting really good at it."

Even so, the Wildcats' opponent managed to tally at least 77 points for the fourth time in as many league matchups. Which is right on par with their season average — at 76 points allowed per game, the Wildcats are permitting more points than any campaign of Calipari’s tenure in Lexington.

"We practiced together two days on defense and trying to get better at defense," Bradshaw said, "because we all know we have a really good offensive team and we've been kind of slacking on defense. So we've just got to pick the defense up."

In that area, Wednesday marked a step forward — small though it may be. As one might expect given such an incremental gain, however, it was far from perfect.

After leading by as many as 20 (47-27) with one minute left in the first half and taking an 18-point advantage (47-29) into the locker room, Kentucky couldn’t prevent Mississippi State from drawing within six (49-43) after scoring 16 of the first 18 points in the second half.

"I feel like we mess up — obviously everybody is gonna mess up," freshman guard Rob Dillingham said. "But I feel like when we actually go over the game plan (and) we stick to it, like, how can you really beat our defense? Because we're athletic, we're fast. We've got two 7-footers without Zvonimir (Ivišić). And like, I just feel like we're honestly solid on defense."

Just perhaps not championship level yet.

Exhibit A in Wednesday's win: After holding the Bulldogs’ superstar sixth-year senior forward, Tolu Smith III, to four points in the opening 20 minutes, the All-SEC first-team selection last season put 22 points on the board in the second half. He finished with a team-high 26 points.

"The biggest improvement needs to come physicality-wise," said UK senior guard Antonio Reeves, who scored a game-high 27 points. "I feel like sometimes, playing against some older guards, it's kind of a struggle."

Playing with the desperation Calipari highlighted, Reeves said, would aid in alleviating those struggles.

"Just trying to get the ball, it's kind of a struggle if you're not in that mindset, because guys are coming at your head every game," he said. "And they're older. Those guys are trying to feed off us because we're Kentucky."

One bright spot for the Wildcats defensively: Sophomore center Ugonna Onyenso delivered off the bench for the second consecutive outing. After posting a career-high five blocks in last week’s overtime loss at Texas A&M, Onyenso nearly equaled that number Wednesday, recording a game-high four rejections.

"He was good today," Calipari said. "(But) he gets tired, and when he gets tired, he just lets go of the rope. What I told him was, 'Sub yourself, and even if you can only play three minutes, it doesn't matter. Your efficiencies are so high.'"

For the team to achieve that same status, Bradshaw said his teammates need to adopt an outlook players of the past made second nature.

"I'm an old-timer, too, so I've definitely heard that before: 'Defense actually does win championships,'" Bradshaw said, noting assistant coach Chin Coleman repeatedly stresses the mantra. "He enforces 'Defense, defense, defense,' because it could be one little mistake that we (commit) on the defensive side, you've lost the whole thing.

"So we've just got to keep getting better with defense."

Milestone victory: John Calipari adds to Kentucky basketball legacy, reaching 400 wins, vs. Mississippi State

Column from C.L. Brown: Offense can carry Kentucky basketball to Final Four if defense, rebounding improves

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: UK basketball: John Calipari earns 400th win with Wildcats