STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State Rick Stansbury created quite a stir on the eve of No. 1 Kentucky's trip to town when he offered flippant at best and disrespectful at worst comments about one UK player.

The veteran coach wasn't in the mood to take shots at anyone in the aftermath of the Cats' come from behind 73-64 victory over his reeling Bulldogs. Instead, the Kentucky native heaped steep praise upon Darius Miller after the senior guard played lead chair in UK's orchestration of a comeback.

“Like I've told you guys from Kentucky, Darius Miller is the fiber that holds that whole team together,” Stansbury said. “He's the key to them. He stepped up again tonight. He made plays when he had to make plays for that team.”

Call it karma or coincidental, Stansbury was reduced to fawning over a UK player less than 24 hours after he dismissively suggested Twany Beckham had a 'front row seat' for the Cats' sensational season after transferring from Mississippi State in January of 2011. While Beckham did not see action, Miller did plenty of talking for his teammate when it mattered most.

Consider: Miller scored his first points on a three-pointer from the wing to pull UK within 55-51 with 7:52 remaining. When State's dynamic duo – Arnett Moultrie and Dee Bost – pushed the lead back to seven it was Miller who drew a foul and buried three free throws to stem the tide.

That wasn't the end of it for the senior with a growing resumé for clutch plays at game-changing times. Miller read an entry pass perfectly on the next possession, picking it off and unleashing an outlet pass that led to a UK runout. A possession later his splashed a three from the right win to pull UK within a single point and then delivered the dagger with an assassin's accuracy when he swished a third three from in front of the UK bench to give the Cats a 71-64 lead with 1:29 on the clock.

“My team was making plays,” Miller said. “I felt like I wasn't, so I tried to focus in and make plays, and it worked out. The guys did a great job of providing opportunities for me, providing open looks. I just tried to do my job and knock 'em down.

“The guys did a great job of providing opportunities for me.”

That's Miller for you – always deflecting attention away from himself. It's always about the team, even when a good portion of it could easily be about him.

“That's been his role since he's been there, he's come off the bench, been a complementary player and learned to accept that if he is going to play,” Stansbury said. “He's played enough minutes that he gets to play a lot, starter minutes most nights. He's a high-character kid and Cal has done a great job getting him to buy into that role. He's a very valuable piece for them.”

Not that it has always come easily for Miller. He's deferential to a fault sometimes, which endears him to teammates but can frustrate his coaches. Prodding Miller to take over games often needs all the subtlety of a taser gun to the ribs.

“I took him out a couple times, and I took him out once because he didn't shoot the ball,” UK coach John Calipari said. “He passed up on a shot. I'm saying, 'You're out. Next guy. I'm not gonna play you.' Then he went back in and he's bombing balls, and that's what I said. I said, 'Your job for this team, you're that senior. You're the glue to this team. They count on you to make those shots.'”

The impact on Kentucky's winning equation was clear to Stansbury.

“That game got on the line at Vanderbilt and who made shots for them?” Stansbury said. “Who made those shots for them? Miller jumped up and made them. The game got on the line tonight who jumped up and made shots? Miller.

“And he's got one thing no one else on that team has – experience. He's a fourth-year senior, he's been through a lot of wars. He's a terrific player for them. All those other guys deserve what they get too but to me he's their Most Valuable Player.”

Stansbury got a front row seat to watch exactly how valuable Miller is to Kentucky.