New faces, same result. Kentucky dumps ETSU 88-65 in season opener

photo by Mark Cornelison, Lexington Herald Leader

On March 18 of this year, the East Tennessee Buccaneers ran into a hot 3 point shooting Kentucky Wildcat team in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.  Freshman guard Eric Bledsoe had the hot hand with 8 3-pointers and 29 points.  Kentucky hit 15 treys for the evening and rolled to a 100-71 win over the Buccaneers.

Now a lot has changed almost eight months later.    That Kentucky squad sent five players to the first round of the NBA Draft and on the eve of tonight’s game, received the crushing blow that Enes Kanter, perhaps their best player. would not be eligible this season.  The Buccaneers on the other hand retained most of the team from last season, are a year more experienced, and  are hungry for some Big Blue revenge.

So what happened?

Well, the Buccaneers ran into a hot 3 point shooting Wildcat team.  Freshman Terrence Jones led the way for Kentucky with 25 points.  Kentucky hit 13 treys on the evening and rolled to a 88-65 win over the Buccaneers.

The faces change, but the facts remain the same.  So let’s take this opportunity to officially end any comparisons between this year’s squad and last years squad.

The biggest question headed into tonight’s game was how UK would fill the hole in their lineup that was to be filled by Enes Kanter.  Kentucky seemed to make a statement early in the game, going to Josh Harrellson inside for the first points of the season.  Just a short time later, Harrellson picked up his second foul of the game just 2:26 into the game and he found his way to the bench.  Eloy Vargas into the game, but he found himself pushed around by the smaller ETSU players and was not that effective.  And neither was Harrelsson when he found himself back in the game.  Together, Harrellson and Vargas combined for 2 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 blocks.

Luckily, Kentucky has Terrence Jones around to pick up the slack.  In his first game as a Wildcat, Jones played with remarkable intensity and found himself playing both the 3, 4, and 5 spot at various times tonight.  Jones recorded a double double in his first game as a Wildcat, throwing in 25 points and grabbing 12 boards.  Terrence also stole the ball three times and had two blocks to cap his memorable Wildcat debut.  Jones also nailed 2-3 3 pointers and he would have set a record for points in a first game as a Wildcat if not for his 3-10 performance from the line.  Not going to nitpick, though.  That will improve.  Jones showed that he can put this team on his back and carry it as he scored the first 12 points of the second half for Kentucky.   Jones became the first Wildcat to start his career with a double double since Jules Camara in November 1998.

If Jones, was Mr. Second Half, then fellow freshman Brandon Knight was Mr. First Half.  Brandon was an early game zone buster with four first half 3-pointers.  Knight finished with 17 points, five assists and four rebounds.  Doron Lamb earned the moniker of “instant offense” tonight as he came off the bench to score 20 points with 7-10 shooting and three treys of his own.  The thing that got me about these three freshman is how fast and how fluid their movements are.  Lamb and Knight both showed skill in creating their own shots and attacking the basket while Jones attacked everything.

But it was not all about the freshman.

DeAndre Liggins had 14 points and 6 assists on the evening and knocked down a couple of treys as well.  Liggins is at his best when he is attacking the basket and drawing fouls and he did that on several occasions and finished for a three point opportunity a couple of times.  And like last year, Liggins was all over the court, diving for loose balls and providing the hustle.  Darius Miller had a 8 points and 11 rebounds, but had to be cajoled to attack the basket and shoot the ball on more than one occasion.  Miller had the shooter’s eye, knocking down a couple of treys, but he must simply get more involved in the game.

All in all, it was a a good game for Kentucky across the board as they appeared to live up to the hype of being a better shooting team than last year, knocking down 13-26 3-pointers.  Kentucky also out rebounded the Bucs 48-31 and swatted 7 shots.  The only glaring black eye on the night for Kentucky was the 9-23 FT shooting, which in inexcusable, but in a 23 point win, turned out to be just a warning flag for something that needs to be improved.

I haave to admit, I am very happy with tonight’s game and feel that this is going to be a very exciting season.  I love the enthusiasm of Jones and Liggins and the poise of Knight and the explosiveness of Lamb.  You know that Miller and Harrellson will step themselves up and assert themselves and when they do ….. well, this has the potential to be a special season.

For complete game stats, go here. 

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