Kentucky Beats Arkansas at Home, 23 January 2010

The Kentucky Wildcats came into the game on a week’s rest while the Arkansas Razorbacks’ last game was only two days ago.  It was thought that the Wildcats would come out flat due to their time off the court, but they came out ready to play.  The Cats got off to a great start, going up early and they never let up.  John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, and Patrick Patterson had solid first halves.  Wall and Cousins finished the half with double-digit points and Patterson was not far behind with 9 points.  Daniel Orton had 3 blocks in the first half.  The score at half-time was 57-27 in favor of the Kentucky Wildcats.

 During the half, Coach John Calipari was questioned about the team and what they need to do in the second half.  Coach Calipari stressed the fact that the Kentucky players need to play the whole 20 minutes of a half and not just 13-14 minutes.  The UK players must have heard his half-time interview because they started the second half on a tear, going on a 14-0 run to start the half.  Kentucky’s lead ballooned to more than 40 points, but the UK starters left the game and Arkansas made a mini-run to make the final score somewhat respectable.  The final score of the game was 101-70 in favor of the Kentucky Wildcats.  Darius Miller had a huge second half, DeMarcus Cousins finished the game with a double-double, and John Wall finished close to his average in points and assists.

Top Performers for Kentucky were:
Darius Miller - 18 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals
John Wall - 16 points, 7 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks, 3 rebounds
DeMarcus Cousins - 16 points, 14 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block
Eric Bledsoe - 10 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 block (6 turnovers)
Patrick Patterson - 9 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block
Daniel Orton - 6 points, 5 rebounds, 4 blocks, 1 steal
Perry Stevenson - 6 points, 2 rebounds
Darnell Dodson - 6 points
Josh Harrellson - 4  points, 4 rebounds
DeAndre Liggins - 4 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal

The Kentucky Wildcats will undoubtedly be the number one team in the country come Monday.  The Wildcats are undefeated with a record of 19 wins and no losses.  UK’s next basketball game is on the road at South Carolina.  The game starts at 9:00 p.m. (EST) on Tuesday, 26 January 2010.