It was a surreal shot. If you look past the cash bar, the makeshift bleachers, and the buffet set up, the Kentucky Wildcats were huddled at one end of the massive ballroom preparing to take the court. It gets more surreal as the Cats take the warped, uneven, crack filled floor underneath the two massive chandeliers. But it passed as a basketball court, warts and all, and this would be the setting for UK’s semifinal game against the game Cleveland State Vikings.
Maybe it was too much fun in the sun, but once the game got started, John Calipari got a warped, uneven, and creaky performance from his #5 Wildcats. At least in the first half. Perhaps it was the creaky floor with it’s numerous dead spots, both both teams struggled early with no score at all for the first 2:00 of the game. The slow start continued through most of the first half. John Wall gave UK an 11-4 lead with 11:36 left in the first half, but by this point, the whole trip had a whole “Montezuma’s Revenge” feel to it.
DeMarcus Cousins took about 5:30 minutes this time to get his second foul of the game, which earned him what is becoming his customary seat on the bench for the rest of the half. Then Ramon Harris went down with what appeared to be a sprained knee and left the game. The John Wall got his second foul of the first half with 2:23 remaining and UK seemingly in control , 30-18. Cleveland State took advantage of two Eric Bledsoe turnovers and two Bledsoe fouls in the span of about :40 and the Vikings were down just 6. A Josh Harrellson 3-pointer at the half restored order and UK went in to what passed for their locker room up 35-27.
The good news for UK came in the second half when Ramon Harris returned to the game, but that joy was tempered when Patrick Patterson limped off the court with UK up 8, 37-29. Patterson would not return to the game, but at this point, UK took control of the game, going on a 10-0 run which consisted of 4 Wall three throws, and 6 points from Cousins, including a 3 -pointer. Darius Miller bumped the lead up to 20 with a 3-pointer that made the score 51-31 and the 14:04 mark and the rout was officially on.
Cleveland State was dominated in virtually every aspect of the game as they were out rebounded 44-24 and the Vikings threw up a paltry 26.6% from the field and that was even worse from beyond the 3 point line (5-26 – 19.2%). Kentucky had a solid team performance with no gaudy numbers but John Wall was steady with 15 points and 6 assists. DeMarcus Cousins had 14 points and 8 rebounds and also showed his temper, drawing a technical late in the game. The bench saw a lot of minutes (66) and Jon Hood is officially in the scoring book with his first 3-pointer.
The real concern was with Patterson who played just 18 minutes. All indications are he tweaked an ankle and was held out because he was not really needed in this game. It speaks volumes to UK’s depth once again that Patrick Patterson and DeMarcus Cousins can play less than half a game each, yet UK wins the rebound game by 20.
DeAndre Liggins and Darnell Dodson still appear firmly in Calipari’s doghouse as neither player saw the floor. With the state of the floor in Cancun, that may not be a bad thing as the goal is to win this championship tommorrow without any more tweaked ankles and knees and get ready for North Carolina next week.
For complete game stats, go here.
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