STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) - On a roster full of superstars, top-ranked Kentucky’s Trey Lyles often is an afterthought.
At least for one night, the 6-foot-10 freshman gave a glimpse of how important he could be for the Wildcats in their quest for an undefeated season and national championship. Lyles scored a career-high 18 points in Kentucky’s 74-56 victory over Mississippi State on Wednesday night, sending the Wildcats to a 28-0 record.
Coach John Calipari said Lyles - who added six rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot - hasn’t even come close to his full potential.
“He should have had 25 points today, but I thought he played well,” Calipari said. “I still think at the end of the day he’ll be the X-factor for us.”
Aaron Harrison added 16 for Kentucky (15-0 Southeastern Conference), the only remaining undefeated team in the country.
Kentucky’s 28-game winning streak is the second longest in school history, trailing only a 32-game run that stretched from 1953 to 1955. It’s the longest in a single season for the program, topping a 27-game streak during the 1995-96 season.
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FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Legislation proposing to update decades-old environmental protection rules on oil and natural gas drilling won strong bipartisan support in clearing the Kentucky House on Wednesday.
Some Kentucky landowners have raised concerns that their property and health could be put at risk due to the practice of hydraulic fracturing, also called fracking.
In fracking, drillers inject water and chemicals into the ground to break up rocks and extract oil and gas.
The measure passed the Democratic-led House on a 98-0 vote. It now goes to the Republican-run Senate.
House Majority Floor Leader Rocky Adkins said the bill updates oil and gas laws that have been on the books as long as a half century. Adkins, the bill’s lead sponsor, said the proposal would create a strong regulatory foundation ahead of more expected growth in oil and gas production in Kentucky.
“This really brings the statutes in compliance with the 21st century of the oil and gas industry,” he said.
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FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - In a debate overshadowed by an ambitious bridge proposal on the state’s northern tier, the Kentucky House passed legislation Wednesday evening that would authorize use of public-private partnerships for mega-dollar transportation work and other projects.
The bill would sanction ventures partnering Kentucky’s government with private sources. As part of the arrangements, a private company could construct, finance or operate a public facility.
Supporters said the partnerships would yield far-reaching results to jump-start projects that otherwise might be put on hold due to limited government revenues.
“This is an opportunity to create jobs and create economic development,” said Democratic Rep. Leslie Combs of Pikeville, the bill’s lead sponsor.
The Democratic-run House passed the measure on an 84-13 vote after considering a series of amendments. The bill now goes to the Republican-led Senate.
The lengthy House debate was dominated by one looming project that could benefit from a public-private partnership: the proposed Brent Spence Bridge project. The estimated $2.6 billion project calls for building a new bridge linking northern Kentucky and Cincinnati.
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Louisville police have charged a 43-year-old man with murder in connection with a fatal shooting on Interstate 71 that shut down part of the busy highway.
Police spokesman Dwight Mitchell says Christopher L. McCullum of Louisville was charged with the shooting that happened around 9 a.m. EST Wednesday near mile marker 7 on I-71.
Mitchell says a man was found fatally shot inside a black SUV that wound up in the median. The man hasn’t been identified.
Mitchell says it’s too early to call the incident a road rage shooting.
Officials closed both southbound lanes of I-71 at the scene, and it was reopened about three hours later.
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