WBN Nightcap: Morehouse Recap

Keep in mind during this recap that Georgia beat Morehouse only 74-50 last week in an exhibition game.

Coach Cal wanted a faster start to the game and said he was going to do it by inserting Michael Kidd-Gilchrist into the starting lineup. Well, mission accomplished. The Cats absolutely crushed Morehouse from the opening tip as Kidd-Gilchrist scored the first 4 points of the game and UK took a 74-13 lead into the half. Yes, you read that correctly. And it could have been a lot worse. The game ended up being a 85 point win with the final score of 125-40, and the lead was as much as 89 at one point.

Calipari made liberal substitution and strategy changes during the first half and the game. Playing a 2-3 zone, press and man to man defenses. He also played Polson quite a bit at the point, 15 minutes in all, and tried out different lineups including Wiljer, Davis and Jones all in the same lineup. Everything worked.

The Cats shot 75% from the field in the first half and managed to shoot 72.7% for the game, including 52.4% from the 3 point line. Kidd-Gilchrist played incredibly well to open the game and seemed to set the tempo for the rest of the game. The Cats ran much more than they did against Transy and Davis looked like a different player offensively, tallying 21 points 7 rebounds 4 blocks and 4 steals. Jones also played really well scoring 22 points and had 6 steals. Also Davis and Jones combined to go 17-17 from the field, incredible.

But the story was Kyle Wiltjer, who had a game high 26 points. and was 4-6 from the 3 point line. He looked much more comfortable than last game, and his shooting from deep is going to be a major advantage for this UK team going forward. Marquis Teague showed improvement in running the offense and had 12 points, 7 assists to only 3 turnovers. Eloy Vargas also deserves some props for playing hard and pulling down a game high 12 rebounds in the game. Darius Miller also had a good game with 11 points and 7 rebounds.

No UK player played more than 24 minutes but they all contributed. If this recap seems a little hectic that is because there really is too much that happened in the game to put in words. There was even a surefire ESPN top play as Teague threw a lob off the backboard to Jones for a dunk in traffic. This was as dominate a performance as I have seen since 1996 by a UK team from start to finish. I know it was Morehouse, but again they only lost by 24 to Georgia so it isn’t like they are a ragtag bunch who get crushed by everyone they play. If UK plays like this during the season and in the tournament then it will be a fun year for BBN.

That’s all for tonight folks, and if you didn’t see the game you better watch a replay, because it is one you really don’t want to miss.