Kentucky Basketball: A tale of two halves Cats have to earn win over Miles

Kentucky basketball didn’t panic despite trailing nearly the entire first half

It wasn’t so much that Kentucky’s defense was atrocious in the opening 20 minutes it was more the fact they were allowing Miles College to get open looks time and time again – and they were swishing through the nets.

While they didn’t get frustrated they were slow to adjust to the Golden Bears who were putting a scare into Big Blue Nation while Duke fans had to be astonished at what was happening.

Washington grabbed the opening tip and drove it immediately down the lane for a layup. Miles then started the game hitting their first five shots including 3 for 3 from behind the arc.

The shooting clinic never seemed to let up mostly from the outside while the Kentucky players watched in disbelief.

Asked after the game on the SEC Network Calipari with the whitty answer.

"“Where you watching the game. How could you let a guy get a 3 off if you were watching the game?  They are still trying to establish who is who and now if something breaks down they aren’t able to play through it.”"

I’m sure many were hoping Kentucky would hold their overmatched opponent under 50 points for the game. Little did they know they would ring up 46 in the first half alone.

They drained 17 of 29 field-goal attempts including 11-15 from 3-point range. They eventually built a 36-26 lead with 5:28 remaining in the half.

Kentucky kept chipping away though and only trailed 46-39 at the break despite excellent shooting as well 14 of 31 field goals and 6 for 11 in threes.

Against better competition, they can’t get down by that many points and allow that many open looks, but they didn’t panic or sulk.