No. 1 Kentucky 71, LSU 69: Willie Cauley-Stein had 15 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots as the Wildcats survived the host Tigers in SEC play.

Devin Booker scored 14 points and Andrew Harrison added 13 for Kentucky (24-0, 11-0), which is one victory shy of matching the best start in school history. Karl-Anthony Towns had 12 points and matched his career high of 13 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season and also scored the go-ahead points as the Wildcats held off a strong LSU effort.

Jarell Martin had 21 points and 11 rebounds and Keith Hornsby scored 17 points for the Tigers (17-7, 6-5). Jordan Mickey had 16 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots as LSU lost for the third time in four games.

Kentucky led 58-45 after Harrison’s 3-pointer with 12:51 remaining before the Tigers exploded on a 21-2 burst and took a 66-60 lead on Hornsby’s steal and layup with 7:38 left. The Wildcats answered with a 10-3 spurt to move ahead 70-69 on Towns’ basket with 1:29 to play and Booker split with two free throws with 14.8 seconds left before Hornsby missed a game-winning 3-point attempt in the final seconds.

LSU led by as many as eight in the first half before the Wildcats took their first lead at 34-32 on two free throws by Harrison with 3:27 remaining. Kentucky led 38-34 at the break and increased the advantage to eight just two minutes into the second half on Cauley-Stein’s basket and eventually bumped it into double digits.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Kentucky G Aaron Harrison was 1-of-8 shooting while scoring two points. … LSU was 3-of-10 from 3-point range with Hornsby making two. … Wildcats F Trey Lyles returned after missing three games with an illness and scored four points.