Kentucky Wildcats Basketball: The Best of the 2011-2012 Season

Anthony Davis Starts with a Bang

Who can forget their first time? Kentucky won their first regular season game against Marist 108-58. Everyone expected Terrence Jones to be the big scorer/rebounder on the team but #23 had something to say about that. Anthony Davis’ skills were supposed to be raw but without comparison. He  gave us a new definition for raw. Davis scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in his debut for the Wildcats. It was his first of many double-double games. His presence was announced and he never looked back from there.

Kentucky vs. Kansas: Part I

There was no time to relax after the blow out over Marist. Kentucky had to prepare to play #12 Kansas in Madison Square Garden in the Champions Classic series. This was Kentucky’s first real test and it was only the second true game for the extremely young squad. After trailing for most of the first half, the ‘Cats tied the game at half time. In the second half their talent took over and they won by 10. Terrence Jones’ performance out shined that of player of the year candidate Thomas Robinson.  Doron Lamb’s sharp shooting gave him 17 points to lead the ‘Cats. Nobody knew at the time that they were going to see both of these teams face each other again in the final game. Kentucky was expected to be there at the end. Kansas most certainly was not.

Welcome Wiltjer

After scoring a combined 14 points in the first two games, many were asking when Kyle Wiltjer was going to break out. That happened in game three as he torched Penn State for 19 points. Wiltjer went 6-12 from the field, 2-5 from the three and made 5-6 from the free throw line. He showed the scoring ability that John Calipari was raving about. While he only scored double digits three more times during the season, his skill as a shooter was apparent and the Wildcat faithful are looking for a big year out of him in 2012-2013.