No Crowing for Cocks: Cats Roll
By Editorial Staff
I just got the message with four minutes to go in the game that I would be doing the post game wrap up for Wildcat Blue Nation because Alan couldn’t make it. I have it covered but I took zero notes because I didn’t know that I would be covering it.
Thankfully I don’t need any.
Since the beginning of the year South Carolina’s worst loss was to Ohio State earlier in the season where they lost by 22, today was a different story as they got blown out of Rupp Arena and all the way back to Columbia 90-58.
The Cats needed a big game, they needed to blow someone out and they did and in some kind of fashion that caused Darius Miller to go absolutely insane from behind the arc and quite frankly all over the court tonight. Miller went wild early went for 22 points, nine rebounds, three blocks on 6-8 shooting from three and 6-10 shooting from the field overall. If you are counting at home that is his career high. It was very relieving to see Miller go up for his three without hesitating and he has moved up in the ranks to one of the most efficient three point shooters in the SEC.
Speaking of one of the most efficient three pointers in the SEC, Doron Lamb had a nice day from outside the arc too as he added in three of UK’s overall 11 treys. He also finished with 18 points and shot 5-11 from the field, along with the three ball sign over his eye once or twice…Man I love that.
Brandon Knight may have had one of his most solid games as the floor general for the Wildcats, he didn’t get his average in scoring as he only had 12 and didn’t make a three pointer, but he had a solid outing as he dropped nine dimes (can I say that?) and only turned the ball over one time. Knight is slowly moving in conversation for SEC player of the year at this point and as I said earlier, it would take some time for him to mature in as the point guard but once it happened he would explode, it’s happening.
It may be just me, but when Terrence Jones keeps putting up these double-doubles I just find it to be really quiet and it was again today, besides one three pointer as the shot clock expired and then a dunk when he got smacked in the face. By the way, if that was DeMarcus Cousins who smacked Jones on that dunk, the officials would have gone to the monitors for like thirty minutes. Anyway, Jones had 19 points and 12 rebounds, just the usual for him.
DeAndre Liggins rounded out the double digit scoring with 11 points and we saw quite a few flashes of Liggins of old, several times he made hustle plays to keep the play alive, including one where he poked the ball loose underneath the basket and then dove on it to cause a jump ball.
Rounding out the scoring column is Jorts and Eloy Vargas. Jorts didn’t get in double digits today but he played a VERY good game, including a double-pump-fake-up-and-under that got me out of my seat because it was that awesome. He also grabbed nine rebounds on the day and four of those were offensive boards. He also put in six points. Eloy scored two.
Sam Muldrow for South Carolina is usually a Cat killer and the X-factor against the Wildcats but today he was a no show. He only had six points on the night and only shot it six times from the field as Kentucky’s pressure defense was exceptional by keeping the ball out of the post and mainly out of Muldrow’s hands.
It wasn’t all celebration for the Wildcat’s though. At the start of the second half the Gamecock’s began pressing and Kentucky really had a problem with it. After burning several time outs and letting South Carolina ALMOST get within 20 they finally figured it out and began pouring it on South Carolina once more, but for a while it was almost like Kentucky was going to let Carolina creep back into the game, but it didn’t happen, Kentucky stepped on their throats and finished strong.
It WAS South Carolina, but when Kentucky is hitting threes this well and bringing the defensive intensity this well then they are a really tough team to beat. Kentucky goes on the road against Arkansas Wednesday to play and they really need to beat Arkansas good on the road to bring that swagger back to finish the season strong and inch closer to at least a number two seed in the SEC tournament to give them a chance for the title.
On a side note, check out John Wall in the skills challenge tonight on TNT starting at nine.
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