UK Wildcats Rumors + 2012 Recruits + News + Blog: Kentucky Football / Basketball

2011-02-07T19:50:00.001-08:00

CATS vs Vandy

2010-02-25T13:49:00.000-08:00

Kentucky Wildcats- 58
vs
Vanderbilt Commodores- 56

Top Performer: Patrick Patterson 13pts, 13reb, 2ast

Keys To Victory:

1. Patrick Patterson's all around game. The veteran leader of the Wildcats came up big in a big game. Patterson's double double (13pts, 13reb) reminded fans of the Patterson of old at times. Patterson was in the paint battling with Vandy's big men from start to finish. He was on the floor contributing with leadership and hustle for every second of the game (39 out of 40 minutes). The only downside of the his performance was his inability to get to the foul line. He attempted 0 free throws. But overall a great outing from Pat, his presence on the floor led the Cats to victory at a hostile Memorial Gymnasium.

2. Team Defense. The Wildcats played excellent defense at times, other than a few big breakdowns. Vandy had to work for everything that they got. The Cats held Vandy to 32% shooting from the field and 10% shooting from behind the 3pt line. The also forced 15 turnovers which gave them extra, much needed offensive posessions. They accumlated 7 steals as a team (3 by Cousins), and 5 blocks (none bigger than Wall's at the end of the game). Overall a pretty productive day on the defensive end.

3. Luck. Pure Luck. Yes, UK held them to 32% shooting from the field, but 2-20 10% shooting from 3 is rediculous. The Cats caught Vandy on a good day. Mark my words, this Vanderbilt team will never shoot that poorly again. They are to good to put up such a terrible shooting performance more than once this year. Vandy out rebounded the Cats 37-29, just flat out embarrassing them as a whole on the glass. Kentucky shot just 56% as a team from the foul line including crucial misses at the end of the game to put the Commodores away, which led to A.J. Ogilvy missing a very makeable shot to send the game into overtime.

This game was sloppy to say the least. Sloppy on both ends of the floor by both teams. But in college basketball a win is a win. No bigger win than this one for UK, beating the #2 team in the SEC on the road where they were undeafeated at the time.

Next game the Gamecocks of South Carolina will travel to Lexington for their second meeting of the season. Everyone remembers what happened the last time these two met. The Wildcats will need to bring their "A Game" to slow down Devon Downey and company. But with revenge in mind this game could get lopsided real quick in UK's favor.

CATS vs MSU Bulldogs

2010-02-18T11:34:00.000-08:00

Final Score

Kentucky Wildcats 81
v.s.
Mississippi State Bulldogs 75

Top Performer: John Wall 18 Pts,10 Reb,8 Ast,3 Stl,2 Blk

Keys To Victory:

1)Team Rebounding. Kentucky owned the glass in this match-up winning the battle of the boards by 20 (49-29). Big men; Demarcus Cousins and Patrick Patterson combined for 24 rebounds themselves while point guard John Wall was in the mix with 10. No MSU player had more than 5.

2)John Wall. Kentucky phenom guard played outstanding. He ripped the stat sheets apart with 18 Pts,10 Reb,8 Ast,3 Stl,2 Blk. None in which were as important as his drive through the lane to make the basket and the foul in overtime to excel the offense in overtime. A stat that isn't talked about much from Wall in this single game performance was the fact that he only turned the ball over 3 times, below his season average. Wall showed great determination and maturity in this game to fight off the hostile crowd and help lead his team to victory. Cats fans will hate to see him go, but the NBA can't wait for his arrival.

3)All around play in the paint. Not only did the Wildcats dominate on the glass, they dominated in the paint in all areas. MSU came into the game the leading shot blocking team in the SEC but the size and athleticism of the Cats prevailed as they won the block shot total 12-2. The Wildcats big men outscored the Bulldogs big men 40-27, including very impressive performances from: Demarcus Cousins (19pts, 14reb <7>, 3ast, 5-8 from the foul line), and Patrick Patterson (19pts, 10reb <6>, 3 blks, 4-4 from the foul line). Cousins, Patterson, and Daniel Orton played extremely active all night on the defensive end in the painted area not allowing MSU any good looks inside forcing them to attempt 35 3pt field goal attempts. Same goes for on offense, staying very active and using there size advantage to keep balls alive, get to the foul line and finish big plays.

4)Lack of Bulldog Star Power. MSU played 45 minutes without thier leading scorer and 3pt shooter Ravern Johnson, due to team suspension for bad attitude, and their leading rebounder, leading shot blocker, and second leading scorer Jarvis Varnado sat with foul troubles for 22 minutes. Without these absences one would think it would have been a totally different ball game. More points scored, more 3pt baskets made, less of a rebounding edge, etc. But that is why the game is played on the court and not on paper. If they are unable to go, there is no one to blame but themselves.

This overtime game was played in dramatic form from the get go. Starting with all of the phone messages recieved by Kentucky forward Demarcus Cousins from the MSU fans. Followed by the intense record crowd mocking Cats players Wall and Cousins, and especially the referees. The game was topped off with fans throwing full water bottles and cups onto the court in which came very close to hitting referee Mike Kitt, and Kentucky players John Wall, DeAndre Liggins, and Ramon Harris. If you recall earlier this month during the West Virgina vs Pittsburgh game, fans starting throwing coins on to the playing surface in which hit a coach in the eye. I don't know what compels people and fans to do such, but there is no room in the game for it and it needs to stop.

Saturday night is a game that all SEC and nationwide college basketball
fans have been waiting for. When the Wildcats travel to Nashville to
take on the Commodores of Vanderbilt. The Commodores are currently
ranked #18 in the Country and are #2 in the SEC behind the Wildcats.
Kevin Stallings the coach of the Commodores knows how big of a game this
is for them and his veteran ball club will be prepared. Vandy is
undefeated at home this season (13-0) and the setup and atmosphere of
Memorial Gymnasium could take a huge toll on the young inexperienced
Wildcats. With the offensive firepower that Vandy possesses with
Jermaine Beal, Jeffery Taylor, and A.J. Olgilvy this game has the
makings of a classic.

Vols v.s. CATS

2010-02-17T19:24:00.000-08:00

Final Score Tennessee Volunteers 62 vs Kentucky Wildcats 73 CATS BREAKDOWN: Top Performer: John Wall 24pts, 4reb, 3ast Keys to victory 1) The play of DeAndre Liggins. He has now gained the trust and respect of Coach Cal, his teammates, and the fans. He didn't tear up any part of the stat sheet. In fact I'm not going to mention a single stat other than 28. 28 represents the amount of minutes that he spent on the floor. Thats 8 minutes more than the 2 guys (Darnell Dodson, Darius Miller)over him on the depth chart had combined. Liggins was on every loose ball, he played outstanding on ball defense, and really helped keep balls alive on the boards. If you go back and watch the past few games Liggins is the only guy on the floor who blocks out on every single possession. With his point guard back ground, his height, wing span and athletic ability don't count the NBA out just yet. 2) The play of Eric Bledsoe in the 2nd half. Bledsoe had 0pts in the 1st but put up a flurry of great looking possessions in the 2nd half on his way to a 16pt night. To me Bledsoe is a hit or miss player. I understand the youth factor but he seems to lose faith in his jump shot if the first few don't go down. This leads to him looking for offensive production in other ways which can lead to turnovers. Against the Vols Bledsoe never lost focus and kept the ball flying from 3. I hope this game gives him a great boost of confidence heading into this upcoming week. 3) All around team defense. The Cats held the Vols to just 38% shooting from the field and caused 17 turnovers. They only allowed the Vols 13 total attempts from the foul line which is a huge positive dealing with the intensity of the game. Vols star Wayne Chism was held in check only shooting 5-15 from the field for 12pts. If it wasn't for Melvin Goins going for a career high 14pts this game could have been really one sided. 4) Signs of the Patterson of old. With all the talent that surrounds Patterson in the lineup these days, he seems to get lost in the mix. I am very pleased with the development of Patterson's perimeter game, but I don't feel that abandoning the inside game completely is the way to go. Remember the past 2 seasons Patterson was a walking double double. I would like to see Patterson get inside and use his strength more to help Cousins and Orton bang some. I saw glimpses of this against the Vols. He grabbed 4 offensive rebounds and kept several balls alive on the glass. With his inside talents and improving outside game, the sky is the limit for this guy. Mark my words, Patrick Patterson is the key for the Wildcats to make it deep into March. With a tough home rivalry game against the Volunteers out of the way the Wildcats must now look into the future of what is the upcoming week, trips to Mississippi State and Vanderbilt. Veteran Head Coach Rick Stansbury will have his MSU Bulldogs (6-4 SEC, 18-7 overall) firing on all cylinders Tuesday night. With one of the most feared big men in the country Jarvis Varnado in the paint they will key in on stopping the Cats post presence of Demarcus Cousins and Patrick Patterson. The Bulldogs average 9 makes a game from behind the 3pt arch which makes them a nightmare to game plan for not to mention they are 12-1 this season at home. Saturday night is a game that all SEC and nationwide college basketball fans have been waiting for. When the Wildcats travel to Nashville to take on the Commodores of Vanderbilt. The Commodores are currently ranked #18 in the Country and are #2 in the SEC behind the Wildcats. Kevin Stallings the coach of the Commodores knows how big of a game this is for them and his veteran ball club will be prepared. Vandy is undefeated at home this season (13-0) and the setup and atmosphere of of Memorial Gymnasium could take a huge toll on the young inexperienced Wildcats. With the offensive firepower that Vandy possesses with Jermaine Beal, Jeffery Taylor, and A.J. Olgilvy this game has the makings of a classic.