Kentucky Scraps, But Loses To Louisiana State By 3 Points

If you watched the first half, then you were probably saying to yourself “Oh No”, as the outcome was looking horrible for the Kentucky Wildcats.  The LSU Tigers went into halftime with an 8 point lead at 36-28.  In the beginning of the basketball game, the Wildcats were looking good.  They got two great dunks from Perry Stevenson and a layup by Patrick Patterson, but then everything went downhill as they went about 8 minutes with only 1 field goal and LSU’s lead ballooned to as much as 13 in the first half.

The second half was a little different.  UK came out scratching and scrapping.  Patrick Patterson established himself in the paint and LSU decided not to double team him as much, so he was able to get his game going.  The Tigers focused most of their attention on Jodie Meeks and held him at bay from 3-point land, but Jodie was able to drive, get fouled, and make 2-point baskets.

The main difference in the game was that Coach Gillespie decided to change up the lineup to start the second half.  Instead of going with Perry Stevenson and Michael Porter, Darius Miller and Kevin Galloway started the second half and played almost the whole second half.  The Wildcats came out in the second half, with defensive intensity and a sense of urgency.  The shots started falling for the Cats and Kentucky grabbed a lead that ballooned to 10 points. 

As predicted though, LSU came back and made it into a game.  The basketball game was back and forth until the end.  In the last minute, UK was down by 4 points with Kevin Galloway at the line.  He hit the first free throw, but missed the second one.  Luckily, Patterson was there to grab the rebound and kick the ball out.  The ball found it’s way into Darius Miller’s hand and he hoisted up a three that was good to tie the game.  Unfortunately, just like other games this year, UK could not keep the Tigers from scoring a shot close to the end.  The Tigers were able to get a 3 to take the lead.  Kentucky had 9 seconds left and called a timeout to run a play.  The play was to set a screen for Meeks and have him take a 3 at the top of the key.  The play worked, but Meeks air-balled the 3 pointer with credit to some tight defense.  Louisiana State just ran the last 2 seconds out and the game was over.

The final score was 73-70 in favor of the Louisiana State Tigers.  The Tigers became the regular season “Southeastern Conference Champions” with the win.

Top performers for the UK Wildcats were:
Patrick Patterson - 28 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists
Jodie Meeks - 24 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 5 turnovers
Darius Miller - 8 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks
Perry Stevenson - 7 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 block

So, the question remains…will the Kentucky Wildcats make the NCAA Tournament?
My outlook on the situation is that today’s basketball game was a must win.  However, I do believe that we are still alive if we can win both upcoming games, “Georgia and Florida”.  We also need to win a game or two in the SEC Tournament as well.  If that happens, then we should secure a 10 or 11 spot in the NCAA Tournament.

Kentucky vs. Top SEC Team - LSU, Saturday, 28 Feb 2009

The Kentucky Wildcats’ next basketball game is at home versus the Louisiana State Tigers on Saturday, 28 February 2009, at 4:00 p.m. (EST).

LSU comes in at the top of the Southeastern Conference with only 1 loss and 12 wins in the SEC.  They are currently 24-4 overall.

What does Kentucky do to win this game?
It does help that this basketball game will be played in Rupp Arena, but that just isn’t going to be enough to secure a win and to keep the Cats in the hunt for an NCAA Tournament bid.  The Tigers are 12 and 1 in the SEC for a reason and that reason is that they are a good basketball team.  So, what does Kentucky need to do to win?  Here we go! 

Jodie Meeks needs to really be agressive in this game.  If He has to force up some of his shots, so be it.  He is good enough as a shooter that He can actually make a good percentage of forced shots.  Jodie needs to get 30+ points at a reasonable to good field goal percentage rate.

Patrick Patterson needs to establish himself in the paint.  Yes, he did get 28 points and 12 rebounds in the loss at South Carolina, but he also had 6 shots blocked.  He needs to find a way to prevent his shots from getting blocked.  He has a good semi-hook shot that could work or maybe some pump fakes would help as well.  He needs to have 20+ points and 10+ rebounds.

Perry Stevenson…where has Perry gone?  He’s really not been a factor at all in the last couple of games.  Maybe this will be his breakout game.  He needs to show up with 10+ points and 10+ rebounds.

CAN WE GET A BENCH PLAYER????????????????????????  We really need a sixth man that can produce!  Who will it be?  DeAndre Liggins, Darius Miller, Josh Harrellson??  I believe that the best fit for the sixth man has to be Darius Miller.  He doesn’t interrupt the offense when he is placed in the game because he is a natural scorer.  He has proven that he can have a big game.  He is possibly lacking confidence or it could be due to inconsistent playing time.

There we have it.  I’ll shut up now and just like everybody else, get ready for the big game tomorrow and cross my fingers.  I hope to have a positive report tomorrow evening after the basketball game.

A.J. Stewart Quit U.K. Basketball Team, Then Reconsidered

It is reported that A.J. Stewart did actually quit the U.K. Basketball program after the loss to South Carolina on Wednesday, but reconsidered on Thursday and was accepted back on the team.

Coach Gillespie was quoted as saying that A.J. Stewart remains a part of the U.K. basketball family and that He will be available to play when the Wildcats play LSU on Saturday.

A.J. Stewart is currently averaging 2.3 points and 1.3 rebounds per game this season as a Sophomore coming off the bench.

I believe this is just the beginning of the soap opera that remains to be seen.  If we finish the season in a bad way, look for some changes to happen.  The changes will probably include a player transferring or considering the NBA draft.  I would love to see Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson come back and play another season together, but I believe that this season has payed it’s toll on one or both of them and we might see at least one of them head to the NBA after the season is over. 

I also believe that not all bench players will be back for next year if that statement above leads to be true.  Look for one of the players to transfer, such as DeAndre Liggins, Kevin Galloway, A.J. Stewart, or Harrellson.  I don’t believe Darius Miller will transfer since He is a Kentucky Native, but we shall see.  I hope that I am just talking a bunch of nonsense, but just look at our track record the last couple of years:  Rajon Rondo, Kalena Azubuike, Randolph Morris, Alex Legion.  If you are a true Blue fan, then you know what I’m talking about.

If the team does remain the same and nobody leaves, I believe we should be a top 25 team next year if Coach Gillespie can get His troops in order and if all the projected recruits commit to the team.

A.J. Stewart Kicked off the U.K. Basketball Team??

Some sort of confrontation happened in the locker room, after the basketball game against USC and there has been reports that A.J. Stewart has either been kicked off the Kentucky Wildcat basketball team or that He has quit the Wildcats program.

There are reports that Stewart’s locker has been cleaned out and that His name tag had been removed.

We will provide more info on this developing story as we receive it.

One Team Shows Up, Kentucky at South Carolina

Well, it was the biggest game of the year for both teams, the Kentucky Wildcats and the South Carolina Gamecocks.

One team showed up and one man showed up for the other team.

To skip the suspense, the South Carolina Gamecocks beat the Kentucky Wildcats easily in South Carolina by 18 points.

The man that actually did show up for the Wildcats was Patrick Patterson as He finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds.  Patrick had to work hard for every shot He put up and He was blocked at least 5+ times.  I stated in the pregame report that Jodie Meeks needed to get 30+ points and one of the other guys needed to step up for the Cats.  That was not the case at all.  Meeks finished with only 18 points and no other Wildcat managed to get more than 5 points.

There was literally no effort in the Wildcats tonight besides Patrick Patterson and maybe a little from Landon Slone, but He is mostly a short minute, defensive guy.

THE BENCH ONLY SCORED A TOTAL OF 5 POINTS AND THAT WAS FROM ONE GUY!!!  Darius Miller came off the bench to score the only 5 bench points.  Michael Porter had 0 points and 5 turnovers.   This was just truly the worst effort that I have seen the Cats put forth for the whole year.  Sure, they had some other bad games, such as the VMI and the Ole Miss games, but this basketball game was the most meaningful one of the year for them and they showed no effort.  It was almost like South Carolina was playing a Junior Varsity team…yes, that’s how bad it was.

South Carolina finished with 16 blocks and caused UK to turn the ball over 20 times.  If this is the kind of effort Kentucky puts forth in meaningful games, then we are destined to have an early exit in the NCAA Tournament, if we even make the Tournament.

The final score of the basketball game was 77-59 in favor of the Gamecocks.

Kentucky Wildcats vs South Carolina Gamecocks, 25 Feb 2009

The Kentucky Wildcats’ next game is versus the University of South Carolina Gamecocks in South Carolina on Wed. 25 February 2009, at 7:00 p.m. (EST).

As most may recall, the Gamecocks defeated the Wildcats on a runner with only 3 seconds left in the game on 31 January 2009 at Rupp Arena.  The final score of that basketball game was 78-77.

For the Cats to be successful in this game, Jodie Meeks must put up 25+ points, Patrick Patterson must come up big with 20+ points, and we need a third scorer to get at least 15+ points.  Our hopefuls for a third scorer are either Perry Stevenson, Darius Miller, or Kevin Galloway.  If Michael Porter could give us another 9 points and one of the guys listed above could give us about 10+ points, then we would be in good shape with that as well.

It is going to be tough since the Gamecocks beat us at home and now, we have to return the favor and beat them at home.  There is a lot riding on this basketball game.  It is a battle of first place in the Southeastern Conference “East Division”.  Currently, Kentucky sits at the top, tied with Florida and South Carolina with 8-4 records in the SEC.

Kentucky Defeats Tennessee, Takes Over 1st in SEC East

The basketball game was never in doubt.  The Kentucky Wildcats started out strong and kept their lead the whole game.

Jodie Meeks was well-defended the whole game, but managed to get points here and there.  He finished with 14 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 assists.  Patrick Patterson was back after missing two games with an ankle injury.  He had a big game with 19 points and 5 rebounds.

Tennessee’s staff, before the game, stated that other Cats’ players would have to beat them besides Meeks and Patterson.  Well, that was the case.  The following Kentucky Wildcat players came up big in today’s win against the Tennessee Volunteers:
Darius Miller - 17 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 blocks
Michael Porter - 9 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds, and 1 block
Perry Stevenson - 6 points and 5 rebounds
Ramon Harris - 5 points and 3 rebounds
A.J. Stewart - 5 points

Tennessee had 3 players in double figures - Scotty Hopson with 14 points, J.P. Prince with 11 points, and Wayne Chism with 10 points.

The final score of the game was 77-58 in favor of Kentucky.

Kentucky vs. Tennessee, 21 Feb 2009

Kentucky’s next game is at home versus the Tennessee Volunteers on 21 Feb 2009, at 1:00 p.m. (EST).

Kentucky hopes that they can get another performance out of Jodie Meeks like the one He put on in Tennessee last month when he broke Kentuckys’ single game scoring record with 54 points.

This is a pivital game for the Wildcats as they sit atop the East in the SEC, but 3 other teams also sit there with them.  The following teams are in first place with 7-4 records: Kentucky, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Kentucky has a chance to seal their own fate because they have all of these teams remaining on their schedule for the year, starting with Tennessee.  If the Cats can win out, then they would win the East in the Southeastern Conference, but that is much easier said then done.

We will see how they fair against Tennessee and take it one game at a time.

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