What a game that was. The first half started like we have come accustomed to seeing from this team, but the second half was something new.
Kentucky, once again was slow to start the game going down 7-0 before it's first bucket on a Doron Lamb 3. Still, the first half was hard to watch as Kentucky looked like a high school team. Senseless turnovers, poor shooting, and the lack of rebounding, made the first half feel like there wasn't any hope for this team in the post season. But Calipari done an amazing job at the half getting this team motivated to play in the second half.
Kentucky (Brandon Knight) came out in the second half, and played like a completely different team. They were moving on offense, playing tougher defense, and just out hustling Tenneesse in every aspect of the game. Knight was just on fire in the second half draining three three's and going 6-6 from the line to finish the game with a game high 19 pts. in my mind, this was the overall best half of basketball Kentucky and Brandon Knight has played all year. John Calipari was impressed with Kinghts play in the second half as well. He had this to say post game, "Brandon was unbelievable in the second half, he hit some big shots and made some crucial plays down the stretch".
DeAndre Liggins played a great game, he didn't score much but once again he done a heck of a job defensively on Scotty Hopson. Wherever Hopson went, Liggins was there to meet him. He held Hopson to 2-10 shooting from the floor for 13 pts for the game. Hopson never got into the flow of the game thanks to Liggins, and Hopson wouldn't have scored 13 pts had it not been for the ridiculous 9-11 shooting from the free throw line. Liggins fouled out of the game late in the second half, and finished the game with 6 pts. But what he did on defense was the diffence in the game. Someone else was impressed with the play of Liggins. (Cal on Liggins after the game) "DeAndre was terrific all game, without him their lead goes to 15 in the first half. All Reggie Miller wanted to talk to me about after the game was DeAndre. He loved his intensity, the way he tried to draw a charge, and how he went after loose balls."
Darius Miller continued his improved play, but waited till the second half to do it. He got involved on defense, shot the ball well, and finally played with some emotion. Miller buried a couple big threes down the stretch to help Kentucky hang on to the lead. Every time Tennessee made a run, it seemed like it was Miller that had the answer. Miller finished the game with 15 pts on 5-10 shooting from the floor, and 2-3 from deep. Not a huge game, and Miller didn't take over the game or anything. But it seemed that way because I'm not used to seeing anyone on this team make big plays down the stretch. And that's what miller did.
Harrellson didn't score a single point, didn't have a huge rebounding game only grabbing 5. But the ones he did get came at just the right time. Calipari had this to say about the rebounding, "We wasn't rebounding very well in the first half. Instead of going up to get a rebound, we waited for the ball to hit the floor". Clearly Calipari covered this in the locker room at halftime as Kentucky won the rebounding battle 32-30.
This was the Kentucky team that fans have wanted to see all year long in road games. Calipari was even impressed by their performance in the second half, "This team grew up today, they improved from the first half. That is the first time we have done that all year long".
Winning this game was huge for Kentucky, it gave them the #2 seed in the east for the SEC tournament and a first round bye. Also it shows the selection committee that Kentucky CAN win on the road in a hostile environment. Let's hope Kentucky can continue the type of play they brought in the second half today next week.
Kentucky gets a much need rest this week, earning the bye allows them to play next Friday instead of Thursday. So let's enjoy the SWEEP of Tennessee this week and get ready to take another SEC tournament championship!!!
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