West Virginia Versus Kentucky in the Elite Eight, 27 March 2010

In the only 1-2 seed matchup in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, the Kentucky Wildcats (1) and the West Virginia Mountaineers (2) matched up well against each other.  Both teams are known for their defense, but Kentucky has a slight edge on the offensive end.

The game started with both teams doing opposite things to keep in the basketball game.  West Virginia couldn’t seem to miss from behind the three point line, going 8 for 15 in the first half, but didn’t have a single point from 2-pointers.  The Kentucky Wildcats were on the opposite end, not being able to hit a 3-pointer in the first half, going 0 for 8 from three-pointers, getting all their points from 2-pointers and the free throw line.  The score at the end of the first half was 28-26 in favor of the West Virginia Mountaineers, a low-scoring game as expected with these 2 great defensive teams.

In the second half, Kentucky continued to be cold from the 3-point line and couldn’t seem to make a free throw either.  West Virginia was able to start getting easy layups on the inside and pushed their lead out to 16 points.  Kentucky made a run late in the game, but was unable to make a full comeback.  The final score of the game was 73-66 in favor of the West Virginia Mountaineers as Kentucky’s run ends at the elite eight.  Duke is the only number 1 seed left in the tournament.

Top Performers for Kentucky were:
John Wall - 19 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, 1 block (5 turnovers)
DeMarcus Cousins - 15 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist (5 turnovers)
Patrick Patterson - 8 points, 13 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block
DeAndre Liggins - 7 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block
Eric Bledsoe - 7 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Darnell Dodson - 6 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block

Congratulations to the Kentucky Wildcats and John Calapari’s first season as the head coach.  While Kentucky was unable to get to the final four for a shot at the championship, this season was by far a huge improvement from 2009.  Can’t wait to see what’s in store for the future Cats!

David vs Goliath, Kentucky Too Much for Cornell, 25 March 2010

The game has been hyped all week, deemed as the David vs Goliath matchup of the NCAA Tournament thus far.  Cornell versus the all-mighty Kentucky, but the truth is that Cornell has much more experience, starting 4 seniors in their lineup.

Cornell came out on fire, jumping up by a 10-2 lead in the first 5 minutes of the basketball game, but Kentucky went on a 30-6 run to end the first half and doubled up Cornell at half-time by a score of 32-16.  Kentucky was able to penetrate and dish to the paint.  The Wildcats were also superb on defense, getting a lot of open runouts due to steals on the defensive end.

Kentucky started out the second half cold as ice, allowing Cornell to cut into the lead.  The lead, at one point, was cut all the way down to 6 points, but Kentucky took over late in the game to pull out the win and advance to the Elite Eight.  The final score of the game was 62-45 in favor of the Kentucky Wildcats.

Top Performers for Kentucky were:
DeMarcus Cousins - 16 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals
Eric Bledsoe - 12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists
Patrick Patterson - 9 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals
Darius Miller - 9 points, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 rebounds
John Wall - 8 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block

The Kentucky Wildcats will face up against the West Virginia Mountaineers on Saturday, 27 March 2010, at a time to be announced.

A 1, 2, 3 Punch of Upsets, Could Kentucky get by Wake Forest, 20 March 2010

On a day of upsets, 1 Kansas, 2 Villanova, and 3 New Mexico all saw their seasons come to an earlier end than expected.  Could Kentucky get by the upset bug against Wake Forest and move on to their first sweet sixteen since 2005?

Wake Forest started the game on fire and quickly gathered a 5-point lead, but Kentucky came right back and made it a back and forth game.  The game was tied 19-19 with about 11 minutes left in the first half, when Wake Forest’s star player, Aminu picked up his third personal foul.  He had to head to the bench and the Kentucky Wildcats took over the game to take a huge lead, 44-28, into halftime.  Darius Miller was on fire in the first half to lead the Wildcats.

Kentucky started the second half on fire as a team and quickly walked away with the game, leading by 20+ points the rest of the way through.  Darius Miller finished with a season high of 20 points.  DeMarcus Cousins was able to get out of his slump with 19 points.  Eric Bledsoe followed up his career-high night against ETSU with 13 points against Wake Forest and John Wall was just, well, being John Wall.  The final score of the game was 90-60 in favor of the Kentucky Wildcats.

Top Performers for Kentucky were:
Darius Miller - 20 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists
DeMarcus Cousins - 19 points, 8 rebounds, 1 block, 1 assist, 1 steal
John Wall - 14 points, 7 assists (5 turnovers)
Eric Bledsoe - 13 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals
Daniel Orton - 6 points, 1 block, 1 steal
Patrick Patterson - 4 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist
DeAndre Liggins - 4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal

The Kentucky Wildcats will play either Wisconsin or Cornell in the sweet sixteen next week.  The Wisconsin/Cornell game will be decided tomorrow, 21 March 2010.

Kentucky Wildcats Handle East Tennessee State Easily, NCAA Tournament, 18 March 2010

The Kentucky Wildcats started their first game of the 2010 NCAA Tournament rather slowly, but that only lasted a few minutes until the Cats portrayed total dominance.  Patrick Patterson and Eric Bledsoe were both in double-figures in points half-way through the first half.  Both finished the first half having 15 points each.  Kentucky led the game at half-time by a score of 54-26.

The second half started with Kentucky pushing the lead even further out behind a career night from Eric Bledsoe.  He had already toppled his previous career-high with 15 minutes left in the game.  John Wall was finding everyone with his passing ability.  Eric Bledsoe couldn’t seem to miss from behind the three-point line, breaking Tony Delk’s record for Kentucky of seven 3-pointers in a NCAA Tournament game.  Bledsoe made eight 3-pointers in this game, finishing the game with 29 points.  The final score of the basketball game was 100-71 in favor of the Kentucky Wildcats.

Top Performers for Kentucky were:
Eric Bledsoe - 29 points, 4 steals, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block
Patrick Patterson - 22 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block
John Wall - 17 points, 11 assists, 4 rebounds
Daniel Orton - 8 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks, 1 assist
DeMarcus Cousins - 5 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks, 4 assists
Ramon Harris - 5 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal
Darius Miller - 5 points, 1 rebound
DeAndre Liggins - 4 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals
Darnell Dodson - 3 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists

Kentucky will await the winner of the Texas - Wake Forest game later on tonight.  The Wildcats’ next game will be on Saturday, 20 March 2010 at a time to be  determined.

Kentucky Earns a Number One Seed in the East, NCAA Tournament 2010

The brackets are out for the 2010 NCAA Tournament and Kentucky has earned the second Number 1 seed of the Tournament.  Kentucky was placed in the East Region and their first opponent will be East Tennessee St of the Atlantic Sun Conference.  The game will be played on Thursday, the 18th of March at 7:15 p.m. (EST).

If the Wildcats win their first game, they would have an interesting match-up in the second round against either Texas or Wake Forest.  West Virginia comes in as the number 2 seed in the East Region.  Other notable teams in the East Region include: Wisconsin, Temple, Marquette, New Mexico, Clemson, and Missouri.

The four number one teams in the tournament include: Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, and Syracuse.