Last night Kentucky played poorly in the first half, but made up for it for 15 minutes of the second half. The first half saw what we have come acustomed to seeing take place in just about every game this season. The opposing team looking like like the Lakers, while Kentucky looked like a decent high school team. Kentucky looked completely disinterested in playing in the first half last night while Miss ST looked like they were playing for the SEC Championship.
The best play in the first half was made by Brandon Knight. With 2 seconds left in the half and just a few steps inside the half court stripe, he knew a foul was coming so he threw the ball up to draw the foul on a three point attempt. It was a smart move by a very smart player with a high basketball I.Q. But the best part of the play was watching the reaction of Rick Stansbury. The guy went completely crazy over the call drawing a technical foul on top of the foul on the three. That gave Knight 5 free throws to end the half ( he hit 4 of the 5) and cut States lead to just one, completely changed the complexion of the game for State. Truth be told Stansbury should have been tossed from the game, because even after the foul he kept going back to the ref even going as far as to grab one by the shoulder going into halftime.
Te second half was much better for Kentucky (excluding the last four minutes) as they finally started playing with a little urgency. Knight done what he does best by slashing to the basket and hitting from long range to earn 24 points (games leading scorer). Doron Lamb done his job scoring 20 while shooting 3-3 from 3 point range. Terrence Jones played Good enough to earn his 9th double double of the year with 17pts and 10rebs. Miller played well coming off the bench scoring 13 pts and going 3-7 from behind the arc. It was just good to see Miller have a good game and be aggressive the way he should be. Maybe bringing him off the bench is something that might be good the rest of the year.
The last 4 minutes of the game was hard to watch if you are a Kentucky fan. It was the same old song and dance, boneheaded turnovers, missing clutch free throws, and blowing assignments on the defensive side of things. What was not surprising was the shooting by Miss State. They shot lights out last night as does every other team that steps foot in Rupp Arena. But all in all Kentucky played good enough to get the win and that is all that matters.
Up next for the Cats on Saturday afternoon is the always feisty South Carolina Gamecocks. Let's hope they have a good week of practice and come out ready to play TWO HALVES of basketball Saturday.
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