Jan 8, 2014; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Julius Randle (30) shoots the ball against the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the second half at Rupp Arena. Kentucky defeated Mississippi State 85-63. Image Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports
As many of you probably saw, the Kentucky Wildcats bested the Mississippi State University Bulldogs last night at Rupp Arena. A couple of us “know it alls” on a podcast that was posted yesterday completely overlooked MSU as a game that we could lose and for the first half of the game, we were wrong. MSU outhustled us to every loose ball and rebound, they packed the 2-3 zone so tight that Randle couldn’t move without a triple team coming down on him so fast he could neither shoot or pass. It’s safe to say that for a half, the Bulldogs shaved a little life from John Calipari as we went into halftime down 3 at 40-37. No one could’ve seen that coming. Kyle Tucker of the Courier-Journal breaks it down.
"That wasn’t exactly the start coach John Calipari or his University of Kentucky basketball team had in mind. The 14th-ranked Wildcats, coming out of their intensive, 10-day “Camp Cal” over the holiday break, looked sluggish and sloppy as they opened Southeastern Conference play Wednesday night. They trailed Mississippi State, a heavy underdog, most of the first half and the Bulldogs were still within striking distance deep into the second before Kentucky finally pulled away for an 85-63 victory at Rupp Arena. The Cats (11-3, 1-0 SEC) hit just 2 of 13 shots and 3 of 8 free throws to open the game and fell behind quickly. “We were a little bit rusty,” said UK assistant John Robic, who took Calipari’s place on the postgame podium as the head coach headed for the hospital to be with his son, who recently had knee surgery. “We’re in game shape, but we weren’t ready for the game when it started. It took us some time.” Young kept Kentucky close in the first half – he filled up the stat sheet with 26 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, offsetting a 3-of-10 shooting night beyond the arc – and two Cats who came off the bench made the difference in the second. Freshman center Dakari Johnson sparked UK, mounting a 6-0 run by himself with three straight baskets in the paint to break a 47-all tie with 16:50 to go. After that final tie, the Cats outscored the Bulldogs 21-6 over the next nine minutes to put them away. Johnson finished with eight points in eight minutes on 4-of-4 shooting. Sophomore forward Alex Poythress also boosted the Cats off the bench with 12 points, four rebounds, three blocks and two assists in 22 minutes. He threw down an array of dunks off lobs – a two-hand slam, one-hand jam and a reverse chin-up – during a devastating 18-2 run down the stretch. “That’s how Alex has been practicing,” Robic said. “His confidence level should be at an all-time high, and I really think he’s seeing that. He’s bringing an energy.” Poythress, not known for smiling, was grinning wide after the game. “It’s way more fun,” he said. “You’re just playing basketball, out there making highlight plays, everything you dream of doing when you’re growing up. It’s fun out there.” UK star Julius Randle, after disappearing in the first half, finished with eight points and 14 rebounds. Center Willie Cauley-Stein had 12 points, four rebounds and two blocks. The Cats shot 65.4 percent in the second half to seal their conference-opening victory. “Second half, we really just brought it up and communicated a lot more,” Young said. “This was a real big win for us. Just keep our confidence up and keep moving.”"
How we seem to start every game is always worrisome what with our laid back attitude and sheer lack of aggressiveness. It’s really a shame that we play like that but we’re young and it happens. Nobody is panicking, least of all Coach Cal. Listen he knows what he’s doing, remember? So with the trouble we had dealing with MSU’s quick little guards, expect that to be rectified before we visit Vanderbilt with our next game. John Clay’s Three Quick Things from the opener.
"1. Stop shooting threes. Kentucky took 21 two-point shots and 14 three-point shots the first half. Kentucky took 20 two-point shots and just six three-point shots the second half. UK shot 37.1 percent the first half and 65.4 percent the second half. You don’t have to be John Wooden to know that the Cats were not taking proper advantage of their considerable size advantage over the Bulldogs in the first half. Mississippi State played zone. Kentucky settled for shots over the zone. Not a good formula. Second half, the Cats pounded the ball inside. To be accurate, the Cats lobbed the ball above the rim to someone who could throw it down over the rim and through the net. A much better formula. 2. Kentucky’s offensive efficiency rating (points per 100 possessions) figured out to 118.6. Aside from the 134.6 against Belmont, that’s UK’s highest rating since 129.8 against Providence. And this was accomplished with Julius Randle scoring all of three baskets for the game. On the flip side, Mississippi State’s efficiency rating was 88.1. That’s the best UK defensive performance since 83.5 vs. Boise State back on Dec. 10. 3. The slow starts are troubling. Kentucky trailed 40-37 at the break, the third time in the last four games John Calipari’s team has been down at intermission. It trailed by three at North Carolina — and lost. It tailed by two at home to Belmont — and won. It trailed by three (40-37) tonight to visiting Mississippi State — and won. Kentucky is 20-23 when trailing at halftime under Calipari. But it is now 3-2 this season when trailing at the half. Last year, UK was 2-11 when it trailed at halftime."