Kentucky vs Connecticut, Madison Square Garden, 9 December 2009

Kentucky started the basketball game just the same as they did against North Carolina, going up by 12 points in the early minutes, but Connecticut was able to withstand the run.  After Kentucky’s 12-0 run, Connecticut went on a run of their own, putting up 29 points against Kentucky’s mere 11 points for the rest of the half.  The story of the half was foul trouble.  Kentucky had 12 fouls in the first half, including the following players with 2 fouls each: John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Ramon Harris, Darnell Dodson and Daniel Orton.  UConn was able to take and maintain the lead throughout the rest of the first half.  Connecticut led by a score of 29-23 at half-time.  Kentucky did not hit a 3-pointer in the first half, going 0 for 4 from behind the line.

 UK started the second half with better intensity than the finish of the first half.  Kentucky started to chip away at UConn’s lead until it was eventually a Kentucky lead about midway through the second half.  Then the battle began.  Both teams were playing hard and neither team could pull away from the other.  The winner of the game would yet again end up being determined in the last minute of the game.  UConn found themselves with a 1 point lead with only 40+ seconds left and Kentucky had the ball.  A set play out of a timeout would have Darius Miller passing John Wall the ball as Wall drove to the hoop.  Wall would get fouled and hit the shot in a spectacular clutch play with only 30 seconds left.  He would end up making the free throw to put the Cats up by 2.  UConn would miss their next shot with 13 seconds left and Ramon Harris (UK) snagged the rebound.  Harris was fouled and hit 1 of 2 of his free throw attempts.  UConn had one shot left (actually got 2 shots) to tie the game, but would come up short.  Kentucky came away with the win by a score of 64-61 to extend their unbeaten record to 9 wins this season.

Top Performers for Kentucky were:
John Wall - 25 points, 2 assists, 6 steals (6 turnovers)
Patrick Patterson - 16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks
DeMarcus Cousins - 10 points, 11 rebounds
Darnell Dodson - 5 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals
Eric Bledsoe - 4 points, 4 assists (no turnovers)

John Wall scored 12 of the last 15 UK points at the end of the basketball game.  It is probably safe to say that without “John Wall”, the Wildcats record would probably be something more like 6 wins, 3 losses instead of 9 wins and no losses.  John Wall is on a whole other level than most College basketball players.  He does have a turnover issue that should get better as he gets more in tune with the College basketball game and how it’s played.  Kentucky did not have much production in this game outside of John Wall, Patrick Patterson, and DeMarcus Cousins, but still found a way to win another close game.  These close games will hopefully give the Cats experience that can be used when March rolls around.

The next basketball game for the Kentucky Wildcats is on Saturday, 12 December 2009 against the Indiana Hoosiers in Indiana at 12:00 p.m.  This is Kentucky’s chance to start the season at 10-0, but don’t sleep on the Hoosiers.  They just beat a very good Pittsburgh team and should not be taken lightly.  GO CATS!

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