Patrick Patterson is Named SEC Player of the Week

Kentucky Wildcats basketball star, Patrick Patterson, is named SEC player of the week.

During last week’s wins against Tennessee State and Florida Atlantic, Patterson averaged 30 points and 12.5 rebounds per game.

Patrick Patterson is averaging 19.6 points and 9.5 rebounds per game on the season and looks to be at 100% or very close to it.  He is truly emerging as the go-to-guy in the paint and along with Jodie Meeks, they create that 1, 2 punch that is very hard for other teams to defend against.  Oh and by the way, Jodie Meeks was the SEC player of the week, the prior week.  So, good job to these two team Captains as they bring back-to-back SEC players of the week to Kentucky.

If only Patterson will stay for all four years, then he could really be among the most memorable Kentucky greats.  You know at Rupp, we’ve had bad reps over the past few years with Kentucky players leaving early to enter the draft.  Included among those players are Rajon Rondo, Kelenna Azubuike, and Randolph Morris.  Imagine if Rondo would have stayed for 4 years!

With all that being said, bring on the Louisville Cardinals on the 4th of January, 2009 TBA!!!!

Kentucky Blows Out Central Michigan, 84-52

Kentucky fell behind to Central Michigan early (15-6) , but was able to get a team effort in the first half from 6 different players as they went on a huge first half run.  Jodie Meeks led the way with 11 points, followed by Michael Porter - 9 points, Patrick Patterson - 8 points, Landon Slone - 8 points, DeAndre Liggins - 4 points, and Josh Harrellson - 2 points…all in the first half.  The Kentucky Wildcats led CEMI at half-time, 42-23.

UK came out strong in the second half and never looked back.  The Cent Michigan Chippewas did not stand a chance as Kentucky goes on to win the basketball game, 84-52.

Wildcats Scoring:
Jodie Meeks finished with a team high 23 points on 5-8 shooting from behind the arc.
Patrick Patterson finished with 15 points and 9 rebounds on 6-7 field goals.
Michael Porter had a career-high with 12 points.
Josh Harrellson was solid off the bench with 12 points and 6 rebounds.
DeAndre Liggins finished with 6 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds.
The walk-on, Landon Slone, had his best game as a Wildcat with 8 points and 5 rebounds.

This was definitely an all-around game by the University of Kentucky Wildcats.  The Wildcats had 9 different players that scored in the game.

Improvement from recent games:  Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson finally got some help with the scoring effort.  Landon Slone might one day earn a scholarship with his lock-down defense.  He has already started to earn more playing time that is well-deserved.  He is pegged as a scorer as well, so hopefully this was his break-out game and we might see much more scoring from him now.

Jacolby Hardiman led the way for C Michigan Chippewas with 12 points.

Monday, Kentucky vs. Central Michigan

The Kentucky Wildcats next basketball game is Monday, 29 December 2008 versus the Central Michigan Chippewas at 7:00 p.m.

Cent. Michigan has a record of 3 wins and 8 losses.  Central Michigan doesn’t really have any scoring threats as their leading scorer is Chris Kellermann at 14.4 points per game. 

This is another game that should be easily won by the Kentucky Wildcats, however, if Central Michigan puts up a fight like the FAU Owls, then this might be another good game against a non-ranked, non-conference opponent.

I think UK will be ready for this game and will put this game away early.  Hopefully, Coach Billie Gillespie has the starting lineup together to ensure that all the players are comfortable with each other and ready to play and win.

Look for Kentucky to put the points up early and often to go on to their 6th win in a row and 11 of their last 12.

Go Big Blue!!!

Kentucky Survives Florida Atlantic, 76-69

I’ll be the first to admit that I thought this game would be over early and that UK would blow out FAU by half-time, but that was not the case at all.  Coach Billie Gillespie had changed up the starting lineup before the game and I believe that had a little bit to do with the Wildcats being out of sync early.

It was all tied up at half-time (37-37) and was back and forth through the early second half, but Kentucky finally proved to be too much for the Florida Atlantic Owls late in the game.  The Wildcats go on to win with a final score of 76-69.

The big men once again proved to be the focal point of UK.  Patrick Patterson was a beast with 27 points, 14 rebounds, and 3 blocks.  Perry Stevenson had an all-around game with 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks.  Jodie Meeks had a good game, but nothing like the last couple of games as he only scored 18 points and went 2-6 from 3-point land.

Improvement from recent games:  The Cats only turned the ball over 7 times in this game.  They had averaged over 19 turnovers per game in the first 12 games.

Hand it to the Florida Atlantic Owls for not giving up and making this a close game throughout.  Paul Graham III (Owls) had a great game with 31 points leading the effort from FAU.

This is Kentucky’s 5th win in a row and brings their record to 10 wins and 3 losses.

Next Game, Kentucky vs. Florida Atlantic

The Kentucky Wildcats’ next game is versus the Florida Atlantic Owls.  The game is scheduled for Saturday, 27 December 2008 at 3:00 p.m in Rupp Arena.

UK should have no problem beating FAU and should continue their win streak.  Expect great games from Kentucky’s Patrick Patterson and Jodie Meeks.  Patterson and Meeks have been on fire the last couple of basketball games and expect them to continue their streaks in this game.

Kentucky should run away with this one early and expect to see a blowout before half-time.

Kentucky Thrashes Tennessee State, 102-58

The Kentucky Wildcats proved to be too much for the Tennessee State Tigers.  Jodie Meeks (Wildcats) continued his hot streak as he made 7 3-pointers and was 8 for 12 in the FIRST HALF with 27 points.  Meeks finished the game with 8 3-pointers made and 32 points.

The big men for Kentucky also had a great basketball game as Patrick Patterson finished with a massive 33 points (career high) and 11 rebounds and Perry Stevenson added 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks.  Michael Porter finished with 7 assists.

Kentucky started early and never let down.  The score at half-time was 59-24 in favor of Kentucky and the final score was 102-58 as the Cats blow out Tennessee State and win their 4th game in a row and 9 of their last 10.

Gerald Robinson Jr. (Tigers) finished with a game high of 25 points.

The Kentucky Wildcat’s current record is 9 wins and 3 losses.

Monday’s Game - Kentucky vs. Tennessee State

The Kentucky Wildcats are set to play the Tennessee State Tigers on Monday, December 22nd, 2008 at 7 pm.

The Wildcats should prevail easily in this game versus the Tigers.  Tennessee State’s season is dismal with a 3-6 record so far.  Look for the Wildcats to lay it on early and hold them off in the end.

Jodie Meeks was hot in Saturday’s game versus the Appalachian State Mountaineers as he scored 46 points and was 9 of 14 from 3-pointers.  Look for more from Meeks in this game because I do not believe the Tigers will have enough defense to keep him and the other Cats at bay.

My prediction is an early blowout and cruise control until the basketball game is over.

Kentucky Blows Out Appalachian State, 93-69

It was a great day for Wildcat basketball fans as they go on to blow out the Appalachian State Mountaineers by a score of 93-69.  Jodie Meeks (Wildcats) scored an amazing 46 points in the win with 9 of 14 from 3-point land and 9 of 10 from the charity stripe.  Patrick Patterson (Wildcats) also added 19 points and 7 rebounds.

The Cats jumped out to a huge lead and finished the first half with a score of 53-21.  Jodie Meeks had 24 points in the first half, outscoring the Mountaineers by himself.  The Mountaineers did outscore the Wildcats in the second half, but were down by way too much to mount a comeback.

Kellen Brand was the top man for the Mountaineers with 16 points and Ryann Abraham added 14 points for Appalachian State.

Jodie Meeks’ scoring total was the most by a Wildcat since 1970 when Dan Issel scored 47 points against Alabama.

Ramon Harris (Wildcats) returned for the first time since his collision with Michael Porter (Wildcats) in an earlier game this year.  He played 9 minutes and had 4 points.

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