This certainly could not have been the way John Calipari expected his Wildcats to come out for their first taste of tournament action. UK came out very uninspired and sluggish against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the first half and found themselves down 11 points (19-8) just eight minutes into their game. But at this point of the season, style points are thrown out the window and the name of the game is “win or go home”. Kentucky responded rather than wilted and subdued a very tough Alabama squad 73-67 to advance to the semi-finals of the SEC Tournament.
Kudos do go out to Anthony Grant and his undersized and outmanned Crimson Tide. For the second time this season, they gave Kentucky all they wanted and simply ran out of gas down the stretch. I can see why some Florida fans wanted Anthony Grant to get the Florida job when Billy Donovan “was hired” by the Magic. Grant gets the most out of his team and I’d love to see them represent the SEC in the NIT.
After falling down quickly to the Tide, the Cats made a brief rally but found themselves down 11 again, 26-15, with about seven minutes left in the first half. The slow start seemed to shock Calipari, who shuffled his lineup and went with a team featuring Ramon Harris, Perry Stevenson, and DeAndre Liggins. It’s been a while since that trio saw significant action early, but the move seemed to bring much needed energy to the team. Alabama was unfazed though and led UK 35-27 late in the first half but Darnell Dodson hit UK’s first three pointer of the game and it seemed to breath life and momentum through the arena as UK trailed by just five at the half, 35-30.
The stats in the first half showed how badly UK was outplayed. Alabama won the offensive rebounds count 10-3, and dominated the Cats on the board 26-16. DeMarcus Cousins got into early foul trouble and was really ineffective as he had zero points and just three boards. Throw in the 1-9 three point shooting and it was almost a miracle that Kentucky was down just five.
Alabama knew Kentucky was going to come out inspired in the second half, and for their credit, held off the initial UK rally and held their own at 40-34. Kentucky started to assert themselves in the paint and finally took a 43-42 lead over Alabama with a John Wall three point play with 13:51 remaining. UK continued to push the ball inside and got contributions from virtually everyone on the floor, taking a 55-45 lead. But in the tournaments it is never easy. Alabama scored six straight points to serve notice that Kentucky was in for a fight.
The Tide was still in the game at the three minute mark when John Wall hit Patrick Patterson for a dunk to put UK up 66-61. Alabama countered with a couple of Torrance FT’s and Bledsoe found Patterson for another big dunk. Wall then got a couple of FT opportunities and UK went up 71-63 and the Tide was essentially done.
I have to say I love the play of Patrick Patterson right now. When Kentucky needs a basket, he is yelling for the ball and he is converting. Patterson finished with 20 points with four boards. Patrick finished 8-8 from the line. And was there in the clutch. John Wall was back in player of the year form with 23 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists. Eric Bledsoe was a nice counter for John Wall and he added 10 points. It just speaks to the overall talent level of this team that they can win despite hitting just 1-13 from beyond the three point line.
Regardless, this was a big win for UK as no national champion has ever lost in the first round of their conference tournament. UK has now won 30 games in a season for the 12th time in their history. After today’s game, Patrick Patterson now has 1502 points in his UK career and is just the 16th member of that club. On a more impressive note, he is just the seventh to do it in three seasons. And with the win, UK locks up the number two seed overall in the NCAA Tournament.
Kentucky will face the winner of the Tennessee/Ole Miss matchup tomorrow at 1:00 PM.
For complete game stats, go here.
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