Wildcats knock off Huskies 74-67 in intense early season matchup, advance to Maui Invitational Finals
By Paul Jordan
When they announced the starting lineups, Washington forward Darnell Grant was paired with Kentucky freshman Terrence Jones. Grant showed Jones the ultimate sign of disrespect, sticking his hand out and refusing to look at Jones when he was announced. And that pretty much set the tone for the game which turned out to have the intensity of a regional final and when all was said and done, Kentucky made sure that the Huskies saw them with a gutty 74-67 win.
The intensity of the Huskies seemed to bother Kentucky in the opening minute as Washington scored the first four points of the game and that was followed by a Calipari timeout. The teams traded buckets and then the Wildcats went on a tear, playing without a doubt, their best five minute stretch of the young season:
Jumper by Jones. Jumper by Knight. Miller for three. Knight with a layup. Jumper by Lamb. Knight for a trey. Knight with a layup. Eloy Vargas with a ferocious dunk. All in all, a 18-0 Kentucky run which electrified the Big Blue faithful and propelled Kentucky to a 20-6 lead. But all good things have to end. Kentucky was playing the #11th ranked team, so you knew that Washington was going to make a run. And boy did they.
After the 18-0 spurt, the Wildcats went cold from the field and play got sloppy on both ends. The Wildcats were victimized also by their own nemesis: the free throw line. Add in the fact that Brandon Knight and Darius Miller picked up their second fouls midway through the opening stanza and you saw a lot of uncertainty and forced shots from Kentucky. Add in the fact that Aziz N’Diaye swatted four shots and controlled the glass and the Huskies parlayed all of that into a 29-14 run to close out the half and Washington had a halftime lead of 35-34.
As the second half got underway, the sloppy play continued on both ends. The play was so frenetic and at times out of control on both ends of the court that this game resembled a barroom brawl more than the heavyweight fight it was billed to be. Thanks to a Josh Harrellson three pointer, the Wildcats clawed their way to a 42-41 lead 5:00 into the second half. The scrum continued through to the 10:00 mark and appropriately, nothing had been settled with the score knotted at 50.
Right about now, Brandon Knight started to take the game over scoring eight points in a stretch that saw Kentucky take a 62-54 lead. The Huskies, to their credit continued to fight, scratch, and claw their way back into the game, cutting the lead to 69-67 with :45 left, but Kentucky hit five of six free throws down the stretch to set up a date with the UConn Huskies in the finals of the Maui Invitational Tournament.
Brandon Knight led Kentucky with 24 points and showed once that he can put this team on his back and carry them. Knight also had four rebounds but played out of control at times, which led to 8 turnovers. But when Kentucky needed a key basket, Brandon Knight was there. Terrence Jones had his second “homecoming” game this week, with the emotional showdown against the team he was a member of for about a month. Jones obviously plays with his heart on his sleeve, and he was quite vocal tonight and even showed signs of being a leader. Terrence had a tremendous night with 16 points, 17 boards, and four blocks. Josh Harrellson was a warrior tonight with 9 points and 14 rebounds. While he lacks the talent of some of the players on the court tonight, he more than made up for it with sheer hustle tonight. Eloy Vargas added 4 points and a rebound, giving the duo 13 points and 15 rebounds. When those two put up numbers like that, good things happen.
Needless to say, in a game as physical as this, the numbers were not pretty. Kentucky hit just 3-17 3-pointers, but on the other side of the ledger, they held Washington to a 3-13 night. Both teams shot under 40% for the game, but Kentucky won the “hustle areas” of the game as they outrebounded the Huskies 49-39, outblocked them 9-8 and tied them in steals 8-8. I would take a second to bash Kentucky’s FT shooting, but they rebounded from a 46.2% first half to shoot 71.4 in the second half and hit 8-10 down the stretch to seal the deal.
All in all, it was a big win for the Cats and to be honest, not a game I expected to win. It’s late, and I have to appear productive at work tomorrow so I won’t nitpick this win anymore. Let’s just say that this team has a lot of heart and a will to win that is undeniable. If Kentucky can knock of UConn in the Finals, we should expect to see a close-to-top-five team.
For complete game stats, go here.
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