Well, another road game and another road loss. This time it hurt just a little more than the others. We had a chance to pull even with Vandy for second place in the eastern division, and keep our hopes alive for a first round bye in the SEC tournament. Now all we can hope for is a total collapse by Vandy, and Kentucky to win ALL remaining games. Since one of those games is on the road, I don't see that happening.
The main thing Kentucky needed to do last night was stop Rotnei Clarke and they didnt do that. Sure he didn't get hot from 3 going 3-9, but they did give him so many chances from the line (11-12) that it was painful to watch. Kentucky fouled him on three point shots, going to the basket, and any other way they could find to send him to the line. He is the one guy on Arkansas team you don't want on the line, and what does DeAndre Liggins do after fouling him going to the basket? Gets T'd up for his usual over reaction to a call, and that gave Arkansas the lead after Kentucky had taken it's largest of the night at 6. Then it was just all down hill from here.
The only player that played to their potential for the whole game was Brandon Knight. He slashed to the basket, getting to the line going 9-9 and scoring a team high 26 points. The one flaw in his game last night, and seems to be a tradition on the road for Brandon was his horrid three point shooting. He was 1-8 form deep, missing two wide open looks in the final seconds in regulation to win the game. But this loss can not be laid at the feet of Knight, as he was the only one on the team that played with aggression for the whole game. (side note on Knight, last night he set the record for most 20 point games by a Kentucky freshman with 10.)
Terrence Jones didn't play like himself all game regardless of his stats. Time and time again he let people drive by him or shoot over him. He did manage somehow to get 4 blocks, but still he didn't play with the effort he needs to play with every game for Kentucky to be competitive under the basket.
Josh Harrellson played a good game, getting 14 rebounds with 6 of them coming on the offensive end. He ended the game with a double double with 10 points and 14 boards. Josh really hustled and gave a lot of effort the whole game. He isn't the most athletic player on this team, but he does play hard every game, and that deserves some respect.
Miller again vanished for long stretches of the game, Lamb looked lost for what time he was in there and couldn't handle Rotnie Clarke. That's what led to his limited floor time, and why Liggins played a lot off the bench. But it was clear Liggins couldn't slow Clarke down either, every other possession, Clarke was beating Liggins off the dribble and drawing a foul. This game was just all around hard to watch. But they did seem to make some improvement on the road sending a game into overtime for the first time all year. Again Knight had a decent look to win it in OT but the shot didn't fall.
Florida comes to Rupp Saturday, Kentucky better get things worked out in a hurry if they expect to win that game.
There are some rumors going around about some sort of altercation in the locker room after the game, and Doron Lamb dropping out of classes saying he's entering the draft. But I'm hearing this is totally untrue. Matt Jones also posted on twitter that Lamb has NOT stopped going to class. I'm still trying to find out about the altercation as of right now, no one seems to know anything.
UPDATE:
As soon as I post this there was an update about the locker room altercation. The boys at Kentucky Sports Radio are saying there is no truth in any of the rumors mentioned above.
Lamb is still on the team and no altercation took place.
So there you go, now you can enjoy the rest of your day without thinking the sky is falling.
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