#2 Kentucky Wildcats roll past South Carolina Gamecocks 79-64
By Paul Jordan
Any motivation John Calipari needed to get his #2 ranked Kentucky Wildcats prepared for their SEC opener against South Carolina came around 1:00 PM this afternoon. That is when the Tennessee upset over #14 Florida ended. A little later, West Virginia knocked off # 9 Georgetown and the message was lound and clear: ANYTHING HAPPENS IN CONFERENCE PLAY. After a sluggish start, Kentucky finally got the message and defeated South Carolina 79-64 for their 45th straight home court victory.
It took the Wildcats about 15:00 minutes to wake up. UK came out sluggish and South Carolina scored the first four points of the game, which necessitated a quick Kentucky timeout. It took a while for the message to sink through as South Carolina made it a game for most of the first half by outrebounding and outhustling the Wildcats. An Anthony Gill jumper made the score 21-17 Kentucky at the 5:05 mark and it looked like it was going to be tough to shake the gutsy Gamecocks but them Kentucky awoke from their self induced coma.
Doron Lamb and Darius Miller scored on layups and Kentucky’s defense clamped down on the Gamecocks. A Terrence Jones three-pointer and an Anthony Davis dunk ended the half on a 13-1 Kentucky run and the Wildcats had a comfortable 34-18 lead at the half.
Any thoughts of a South Carolina comeback were quickly vanquished as a Doron Lamb trey gave Kentucky a 41-21 lead. At this point, we can expect to hear John Calipari say that Kentucky took “their foot off the gas” as they allowed South Carolina to match baskets and hang around too long. A Bruce Ellington three-pointer brought the Gamecocks to within 60-48 with 8:00 remaining, but a Marquis Teague three of the “and one variety” pushed the lead back to 67-50 with 6:38 remaining. It was coasting from there
Finally we can end the “what’s wrong with Terrence Jones” conversation. At least as it pertains to scoring. Jones was back with a focus and finished with a game high 20 points on 8-9 shooting, his only miss a three pointer. Marquis Teague added 17 points and Anthony Davis and Doron Lamb had 12 and 10 respectively. Anthony Davis had his fifth straight double double as he added 10 rebounds and came just three blocks away from a triple double.
We saw the return of Kentucky’s high octane offense after a couple of games misfiring. After the opening sloppy fifteen minutes, Kentucky scored 58 points in just 25 minutes. The Wildcats blistered the nets hitting 59.2% of their shots and 5-11 of their three pointers. Kentucky was victimized by 16 turnovers against just 13 assists and Terrence Jones had five of those turnovers.
We take the good with the bad and John Calipari is not going to be happy about Kentucky’s defensive performance in the second half. Kentucky locked down on South Carolina in the first half, holding them to 18 points and 25% shooting, including 1-10 from 3-point range. The second half was a different story as South Carolina outscored Kentucky 46-45, shot 53% and 42% on their three pointers. I know the game was not in doubt and it was South Carolina, but Kentucky can not have many more defensive halves like this. It all looks good on paper as the Gamecocks shot 39% for the game, but trust me. This will be brought up.
I did give Anthony Davis props for his 10 boards, but what happened to the rest of Kentucky’s rebounding? Michael Kidd-Gilchrist added 6. The rest of the Wildcats managed just 11 rebounds and Kentucky was inexplicably outrebounded by the Gamecocks 32-27. Terrence Jones had just three boards. Even more inexcusable was the fact that South Carolina had 16 offensive boards. After Kentucky dominated their last two opponents on the board, tonight’s effort was mystifying.
All in all, it was an easy win. I’m not going to nit pick a win too much, but Kentucky has to step up their effort. This type of effort will get you beat on the road in the SEC. Let’s hope it does not take a return to last years road woes to wake this team up.