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).

Kentucky Lacks Against Vanderbilt, Loses by 13 Points

Kentucky couldn’t seem to get anything going in the basketball game versus the Vanderbilt Commodores.

I contribute most of that to the referees and how they managed to call an a**load of fouls against the Kentucky Wildcats, but hmm…Vanderbilt didn’t seem to foul that much?

Anyway, no excuses, Kentucky just didn’t have a good game.  Jodie Meeks managed to get his points, but it wasn’t impressive.  Free throws and rebounds were the difference.  With Patrick Patterson not playing, Vanderbilt kept taking the ball to the paint and kept getting good looks.  Kentucky was too small in the paint area and just couldn’t stop Vanderbilt from scoring in the paint.  Perry Stevenson only played about half the game and Josh Harrellson (who could give Kentucky presence in the paint) only played the first 7 minutes of the game and no more???

Jodie Meeks finished with 26 points.

The final score was 77-64 in favor of Vanderbilt.

Kentucky Takes Care of Vanderbilt, 70-60

A.J. Ogilvy was unable to play for the Vanderbilt Commodores and the Kentucky Wildcats took full advantage of it as they take care of Vandy, 70-60.

The Vanderbilt Commodores led for most of the first half, but the Kentucky Wildcats made a late first half push with a credit to their defense and led at half-time 31-27. 

Patrick Patterson found himself in foul trouble in the first half and spent a lot of time on the bench with only 2 points and 2 fouls in the first half.  Jodie Meeks didn’t shoot the ball well, but did have 9 points on 3-10 shooting in the first half.  Perry Stevenson came on strong and had 8 points on 4-4 shooting in the first half.

UK held Vandy to only 4 points in the paint in the first half while getting 18 points for themselves on Perry Stevenson’s great first half effort.

Kentucky came out strong in the second half and the lead ballooned to 20 points in favor of Kentucky, but Vandy made a comeback late in the second half to make the score respectable.  Ramon Harris stepped up his game as Patrick Patterson’s game seemed to be non-existent throughout the whole game because of foul trouble.

Jodie Meeks finished with 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists.
Patrick Patterson finished with 11 points, 1 rebound, 3 blocks, and 4 fouls.
Perry Stevenson had 10 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 blocks.
Ramon Harris turned it on with 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists.

Vandy’s leading scorer was Jermaine Beal who had 18 points of 5-13 shooting followed by Jeffery Taylor who had 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Vanderbilt at Kentucky, Saturday, 10-Jan-2009

The Kentucky Wildcat’s next game is vs. the Vanderbilt Commodores at Rupp Arena on Saturday, 10 Jan 2009 at 2:00 p.m.

UK looks to avenge the meeting from last year when Vandy gave us a whooping to put it nicely, winning by more than 40 points.

The Vanderbilt Commodores have A.J. Ogilvy in the paint averaging 16.5 ppg and 7.2 rpg.  He should match up nicely with Kentucky’s Patrick Patterson averaging 19.5 ppg and 9.8 rpg.

I don’t believe Vandy will be able to stop Jodie Meeks and since Kentucky has home court advantage, I am going with Kentucky to win it in a well-played basketball game by both teams.