LSU Moves On in SEC Tournament 2009, Kentucky NIT Bound?

The Kentucky Wildcats came out with a lot of intensity in the first half, but turnovers seemed to plague the Cats again as they finished the half with 9 turnovers.  The only thing keeping the Wildcats in the game was the fact that the LSU Tigers couldn’t make their shots.  Louisiana St finished the half on 30.6% field goal shooting.  Michael Porter hit two 3-pointers in the half, but Jodie Meeks was pretty much non-existent as he only had 4 points on 2 of 5 shooting.  Patrick Patterson kept going where he left off yesterday, finishing the half with 7 points and 8 rebounds.  The score at halftime was 28-23 in favor of the LSU Tigers.

In the second half, it was close until the middle of the second half when the Kentucky Wildcats’ defense just broke down as LSU players were getting open left and right.  I don’t know what happened at half-time, but it didn’t work or maybe LSU is just that much better than Kentucky and maybe it is time to come to that realization.

Where was Jodie Meeks?  There was a very questionable move by Coach Gillespie in the second half where Jodie Meeks was sitting on the bench for about 4-5 minutes of the second half when he needed to be in the basketball game.  I know that he was struggling from the field, but you need your best player in the game when you are down!  It was the first game of the season that Jodie Meeks didn’t get double figures in points as he finished with only 8 points.

Kentucky Performers:
Patrick Patterson - 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks
Ramon Harris - 11 points and 4 rebounds
Michael Porter - 9 points and 2 rebounds
Jodie Meeks - 8 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 5 turnovers
Darius Miller - 8 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals
Perry Stevenson - 5 points, 2 blocks, and 4 turnovers

Great balanced scoring, just not enough of it!!

Kentucky just couldn’t get over the hump and was behind the entire game after scoring the first two points of the game.  The final score was 67-58 in favor of LSU.  As of now, it looks as though we are going to be “NIT” bound.  Hopefully, we will have better luck next year!

Kentucky vs LSU, SEC Tournament Quarterfinals, 13 March 2009

The Kentucky Wildcats have made it through the first day of the SEC Tournament of 2009.  Now comes the hard part.  Kentucky will play the LSU Tigers tomorrow (13 March 2009) at 1:00 p.m. (EST).

If you can remember, it wasn’t too long ago literally, Louisiana St came into Rupp Arena and pulled out a 73-70 win on a 3-pointer in the final seconds of the game.  That basketball game was played on Saturday, February 28th, 2009.  The Wildcats were up by 10 points in the second half and blew the lead with carelessness to allow the LSU Tigers to come back and get the win.

The Cats hope this game will play out different.  Louisiana State is considered the powerhouse of a down-season SEC.  LSU is the Southeastern Conference, regular season champions.  If the Kentucky Wildcats can match the intensity that they had today, then it could be a very fun basketball game to watch.  Tune in tomorrow and root for the Cats as they play the role of “David against Goliath”.

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.