Patterson just shy of a 20/20 as Wildcats buck Broncs 92-63
By Staff
John Calipari warned us about a rough start to the season and a possibly bumpy start ahead. For today at least, all it took was three games to get all the kinds out and get his Big Blue Machine running smoothly and purring like a … well, cat. Today’s matchup against the Rider Broncs had the naysayers shaking their heads and the UK critics ready to stand by on “upset alert” all day.
Well, all that worry was for naught. Despite the UK fans nightmares of Rider duplicating the 3-point success of Miami and Sam Houston State, Rider did not come out all guns ablazing like they were expected. UK used a tougher defense and took advantage of a cold shooting Rider team to
force a more traditional offensive effort from the Broncs. Patrick Patterson and John Wall keyed a 10-2 spurt midway about 5:00 into the game to give UK a 16-8 lead and for all purposes, the game was pretty much over.
The much hyped Rider 3 -point attack never materialized, despite a couple of wide open looks at the basket early. UK did a good job of extending their defense in the first half and the Bronco’s were shut out from beyond the arc in the first half, going 0-9. Daniel Orton took advantage of two quick fouls in the first half to see a lot of early playing time, and he did well, scoring 10 points in the first half. This game was a splendid coming out party for UK’s much hyped freshman class.
Patrick Patterson hit a free throw to give UK a 19-12 lead with 10:46 remaining. Over the next 5 minutes or so, the freshman trio of Orton, Bledsoe, and Wall scored 16 points for the Cat’s, culminating with a Wall layup that made the score 35-18 for UK. UK finished the best half of it’s season and went in up 51-26 over the Rider Broncs.
The second half was more of the same as DeMarcus Cousins got back into the lineup and score 16 of his 18 points. Booger also added 5 blocks. Patrick Patterson had arguably his most dominant day as a Wildcat tying a career high with 18 rebounds and poured in 19 points. John Wall was amazing with 11 assists and just 2 turnovers as he scored 21 points. Even with an average game, Bledsoe managed 11 points. The biggest impact of the game had to go to Daniel Orton though. Although he has played solidly in the first few games, he has not scored as much as Calipari had hoped. He helped to rectify that as he had his first game as a Wildcat with 14 points and 6 rebounds.
And what about Rider getting loose from 3 point land and making a huge comeback? Not going to happen. Rider did drill two quick three pointers early in the second half and John Calipari called a quick timeout and admonished his Wildcat. The talk worked, as the Broncs went just 4-17 from beyond the arc and were smothered into a 31.6% shooting day. UK continued to build on it’s work in the first half and UK reached the 4-0 mark for the first time since the 2004 season with a 92-63 win.
I think the scary thing about this game is how good and how deep UK really is. Most teams would be thrown into turmoil if they lost a DeMarcus Cousins with 2 fouls just 3:00 into the game, but with UK, Daniel Orton strolled in and the level of performance was never lowered. The thing, UK did this dismantling of Rider with Cousins and Orton in foul trouble for most of the game and Darnell Dodson and DeAndre Liggins firmly in the doghouse, neither getting a scent of playing time. This is the same Dodson who was expected to pick up the slack from Jodie Meeks, but UK rolled offensively without him the last two games. Just imagine how deadly we will be when that doghouse gets cleared….
For complete game stats, go here.
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