Another Tough Game for Kentucky at Vanderbilt, 20 February 2010

The Kentucky Wildcats came into Vanderbilt after a huge scare against the Mississippi St. Bulldogs on Tuesday night, but the Cats were able to survive in that game.  The Wildcats are on a 6-game winning streak after their first loss of the season in South Carolina, but hardly any of the games have come easy.  Would this game be another tough game for the Wildcats?

The first half of the game was horrendous for both teams on the offensive end.  Kentucky only shot 40% from the field, while Vanderbilt only shot 29% from the field.  With all those misses, surprisingly enough, there wasn’t that many rebounds for both teams, Kentucky only grabbing 12 rebounds while Vandy pulled down 19 rebounds.  Kentucky only shot 50% from the free throw line in the first half, going 5-10 from the stripe, but amazingly, the Cats led at half-time by 2 points.  The score at half-time was 27-25 in favor of the Kentucky Wildcats.

The second half would be much of the same.  Neither team was able to gather more than a 4-point lead in the second half.  The game was close all the way to the end.  Kentucky was up by 1 point with less than 10 seconds left, but Vanderbilt had the ball.  Vandy dribbled the ball down the court and attempted a 3-pointer, but John Wall was there for the defensive stop, getting the block, grabbing the ball, and getting fouled with only 2.5 seconds left.  John Wall couldn’t get the first free throw to go down, but did get the second.  Now, Kentucky had a 2-point lead, but the Commodores had another shot.  Vanderbilt was able to throw the ball down the court to Ogilvy cleanly. Ogilvy headed to the goal, shot a floater, but missed it as time expired.  Kentucky came away with the win by a final score of 58-56 in what was a thriller of a game.

Top Performers for Kentucky were:
DeMarcus Cousins - 19 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block (5 turnovers)
Patrick Patterson - 13 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists
John Wall - 13 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block
Eric Bledsoe - 8 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds
Darius Miller - 3 points, 2 rebounds, 1 block

Patrick Patterson came through in this game, not only getting a double-double, but also hitting a clutch 3-pointer in the final minutes.  This was a very sloppy and physical game, but Kentucky was able to come away with another win.  Hopefully, the next game won’t be so dramatic, but teams are getting more competitive with only a few games left before the tournament starts.

Kentucky’s next basketball game is at home against the South Carolina Gamecocks, the only team to beat the Wildcats so far this year.  The game is Thursday, 25 February 2010 at 9:00 p.m.(EST).