by Paul Jordan
UK defeated the Ole Miss Rebels to advance to 21-1 on the basketball season. Read that again 21-1. And after the last two seasons, I am amazed that we are discussing style points. At 21-1 ….. yet we are. It seems lately that the talking heads and assorted media want to talk about anything other than the fact that UK is 21-1.
Tonight’s game was a game that Kentucky led the entire 40 minutes, yet they will be criticized that they did not beat a very good Mississippi team (still ranked #25 in one poll) by 30 points. Kentucky came out with all guns blazing and jumped on top of Ole Miss 7-0 and extended that lead to 27-9 with about 11:00 remaining in the first half. The Rebels fought back and cut UK’s lead to just 3 points at 40-37. UK responded down the stretch and ended the first half up 46-37. In the second half, the Cats built the lead up to 15 points at 58-43. Like good teams will do, the Rebels chipped away at the lead and cut it to 60-57. Instead of folding, Kentucky went on an 8-0 run and pushed the lead back to 68-57. And there was no more drama the rest of the way.
Kentucky gave a very good overall effort for this game, and color me in the minority, I have stopped worrying about UK’s supposed “lack of killer instinct”. How many times have we seen teams lose most of a large lead and completely come unraveled and completely fall apart? Like a thoroughbred racehorse, this Kentucky team seems to revel in hearing the footsteps behind them and they turn it up another gear or two and answer every challenge. Instead of lack of killer instinct, let’s call these moments character defining moments.
Tonight’s game saw another change to the starting lineup. This time Darnell Dodson took Darius Miller’s spot in the lineup and the way he played, it’s going to be hard to unseat him. Dodson notched 14 points on 4-5 shooting from 3-point range. Darius Miller added 5 points in just 9 minutes which gave UK 23 points out of that “SF” or 3rd guard position. Miller seemed more relaxed coming on relief and UK may have a “platoon” situation going on at that position as Miller is better defensively and Dodson is emerging as a true sharpshooter. Calipari’s shuffling of the lineup to get Wall, Bledsoe, and Dodson on the floor at the same time may be a title winning decision.
DeAndre Liggins has also worked his way into the guard rotation and I love the energy and hustle he brings. He has these bursts where he rivals Wall and Bledsoe in speed and quickness. Liggins had 5 points and 5 rebounds in just 17 minutes. It seems like he is diving on the floor for every loose ball and you can tell that his whole demeanor and attitude have changed from last season and it is exciting to see the transformation.
Speaking of attitude, we can officially consider the whole Wall-Calipari drama over. Wall was his usual charismatic self and had his best game in a while with 17 points on 6-10 shooting. He also added 7 assists. DeMarcus Cousins, simply put, is the best big man in the SEC. He gets so many rebounds on purely hustle and out-muscling the other team. Boogie finished with yet another double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Nine of those rebounds were off the offensive boards. And Patrick Patterson was his usual steady self, with 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks. It’s obvious that Kentucky is working on getting Patterson more involved in the game and he can get back to that 16 points – 10 board a night game, UK will be truly unstoppable. Eric Bledsoe was a little off from the field tonight, but still finished with 8 points and 8 assists. And this is the beauty of this Kentucky team. They find a way to win when a Bledsoe is not firing on all cylinders.
Bottom line is, UK rebounded from their sole loss by putting away two very good SEC teams by double digits and in all reality, was not really challenged the past two games. The have had the lead for 79:02 of the last two games. IF you want to find something to nitpick about there, I don’t really see it.
For complete game stats, go here.
Keep following www.http://wildcatbluenation.com for the best in Kentucky basketball and football news, rumors, and opinions. By Kentucky fans for Kentucky fans