by Paul Jordan
Call it ugly. Call it poor basketball. Call it “not living up to the hype”. But whatever moniker you decide to tag on this game, make sure you call it a Wildcat victory over Louisville. And no matter how you color it, it’s one of the best gifts for a Wildcat fan, no matter what time of year it is.
Tensions were high from the start in this game and Eric Bledsoe was called for a chippy foul just :08 into the game. Tensions were high and Bledsoe was heated and that earned him a seat on the bench to cool down. Darius Miller was called for another fouls a few seconds later. Then Samardo Samuels of the Cards was flagged. Then, a scrum occurred on the floor as the players fought over a loose ball and Reginald Delk, Jared Swopshire, and DeMarcus Cousins all were called for technical fouls. Cousins was the controversial call of the game: Wildcat fans will say that Cousins was going for the ball and alls fair in love and loose basketballs, Card fans will cry for a flagrant foul and ejection for Cousins slamming the Dirty Cards with a late elbow.
Have we mentioned that all this occured in the first minute of the game?
At this point, they actually started to play basketball and DeMarcus Cousins scored the first six points of the game. The next few minutes were a harbinger of what was to come for the first half. Louisville got their first point of the game with 16:26 remaining and that made the score 6-1 Kentucky. The Dirty Cards did not get their first FG of the game until the 10:48 point and that made the score 15-5 Kentucky.
The Wildcats missed a huge opportunity to put the Cards down 20 or more in the first half, but they played as out of control and ragged as the Dirty Cards. At one point, Louisville was 1-20 from the field but still somehow hanging in the game. If you are a Baltimore Ravens fan and love 3-3 football games, this was a game for you as every single shot, every pass, every drive down the court was contested bitterly. Kentucky took a 18-5 lead with 7:30 remaining and then the game went nearly two minutes before another score was made.
It was that kind of half and when the first horn ended, UK was up 27-19 and Rick Pitino was never so fortunate to be down just 8 at half. For the first half, Louisville shot 17.2% compared to UK’s 33.3%. Patrick Patterson led the way with 12 points and Cousins had 12 boards.
The second half was a more traditional type of game and a lot more competitive as Louisville closed to within four at 33-29 with about 17:00 remaining. Patterson and Cousins started to take control and UK seemed to be getting the game in control with a 41-33 lead around the 15:00 mark. Then John Wall started to cramp up and sat on the bench for a few minutes as Louisville went on a 9-0 run to take a 42-41 lead with 10:00 remaining.
And then on what had been a lackluster game for him thus far, John Wall took control and scored the next six points of the game as UK finally started to take control of the game. UK got a 3 pointer from Ramon Harris and a timely putback from Perry Stevenson and then a series of free throws gave UK a 60-48 lead with about 3:44 remaining and the Cardinals were done, getting no closer than 8 the rest of the way.
For Kentucky, it moves them to 15-0 with the season virtually at it’s mid way point. They are awarded with a week’s rest before facing Georgia next Saturday. Like I said, it was not a pretty win, and if the Cardinals were not so incompetent (insert Rick Pitino joke here) at scoring themselves, this could have been a different story. UK showed great trouble handling the zone and had several ugly possessions on offense. With Wall out of the game, the Cats seems confused and lacking focus. Obviously this is what John Calipari will have to establish before tournament time. The Cats need to establish an identity without John Wall in the lineup.
But that is enough of the negative. I am never one to nitpick a win, and I am very thankful to have that win on a day when my team shot 14% on 3-pointers and 61% from the charity stripe. And they won on a day when John Wall was not John Wall.
DeMarcus Cousins deserves special kudos for the way he maintained his composure after the opening minute. He was targeted the rest of the day and was hit hard several times. I admit I was concerned when Daniel Orton got his second foul with 15:00 left in the first half and Cousins played in control the rest of the half and never got into foul trouble. Cousins had 18 points and 18 boards to lead the Cats and set the table for his second straight SEC player of the week award. Patrick Patterson had 17 points but his rebounding numbers have dropped in recent games as he had just 4. And even on a non Wall day, he did still score 17 points.
For the rest of the game stats, go here.
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