by Paul Jordan
“What does not kill me, makes me stronger” – Friedrich Nietzsche
I have to admit … even I thought that UK was due a loss this week in their murderer’s row travels to Mississippi State and Vanderbilt. And UK was tested, battered, and bruised the last two games, yet emerged triumphant after back to back thrilling wins. And yes, this does make the Wildcat team stronger. This is a team that continues to get better and a team that continues to find ways to win.
Much of the buzz this year has been on Kentucky’s fantastic freshman, Wall and Cousins, but the last two games, Patrick Patterson has re-emerged and is carrying this Wildcat team on his back. Patterson was unstoppable tonight, scoring 13 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. At times, we saw the old Patrick playing angry as he grabbed an offensive rebound and undaunted, slammed it home. Then we saw the new and improved Patterson as he drained a 3-pointer with 3:54 remaining to cap a 7-0 UK run and put UK up 53-50.
And I’m sorry, I am too pumped to really give a concise breakdown of the game so unfortunately, this column is going to be a string of random thoughts. That said, how much longer do we have to wait until John Wall is named Player of the Year? On a night when he was not himself offensively (3-11 FG, 1 assists), Wall stepped up defensively and blocked a John Jenkins three point attempt with four seconds left to help seal the game. Yes, Evan Turner is a nice player, but how many games has he single handedly won with the game on the line? And Kentucky is 26-1. Case closed.
And let’s talk about DeMarcus Cousins. After a horrendous performance from the FT line last week at home against Tennessee, he bounces back and goes 7-9 from the line in crunch time in a hostile road environment. Cousins is like the Incredible Hulk in the paint as he is continually draped by two, sometimes three players and still manages to get a shot off and get to the line. For his efforts tonight, Cousins had 19 points, 5 boards and 3 steals. And you would think that being a freshman in this hostile environment would faze Cousins, but it does not. The crowd actually fuels him and makes him stronger. Incredible. I know I could be like a lot of bloggers and discuss his maturity issues, but as you know, I try not to nitpick a win.
But speaking of Cousins. How long are these refs going to take all of the jawing and provoking the other teams do on Cousins every night. These teams think that Cousins’s temper is his Achilles heel so they try to provoke him all night long and nothing gets called? Come on ref, those sportsmanship fouls get called both ways.
And you have to give a coaching call to Kevin from “The Office” Stallings. After being dominated in Lexington in round one, he realized that he did not have the talent or the manpower to beat UK. So what did he do? He controlled the tempo for most of the game and made this game as ugly as humanly possible. This was one of the more physical games and I counted at least 6 fouls that were not called on players bashing Cousins, yet Kentucky won this barfight of a game.
Once again, you have to be amazed by the will to win on this team. Down 50-46, with 5:58 left, Kentucky went through a sequence where Bledsoe missed a free throw, and both Cousins and Patterson grabbed the rebound and missed the layup. The old Kentucky would have died and wilted away and Vandy would have run their home streak against UK to five games in a row. But like on Tuesday, Kentucky stormed back with their backs against the wall. Cousins did his Kyle Macy impression and sank two free throws and then after a airball try attempt by Brad Tinsley, Cousins assisted on a Bledsoe layup. The Patterson trey followed and Kentucky was on it’s way.
Keep in mind, the win was not perfect. There were several instances where I could bash a player in tonight’s game and drag him down. But I don’t do that. Let’s just say that I am sure Calipari has a few one on one sitdowns on his dayplanner.
As it was not a perfect game, it was not without it’s drama. After his block, Wall missed one of his free throws which gave Vandy a chance to win the game with 2.5 seconds left. A.J Ogilvy missed a last gasp 15 footer and win number 26 was in the books.
Sorry if this was disjointed, but I am still hyped. For complete game stats, go here.
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