After what looked like a game that was going to be a battle, Kentucky remembered they were the better team, and crushed Marshall 82-54. In their final tune up before the Louisville game, the Cats gave fans a reason to worry. Again we seen a far less inferior team come into Rupp, and take the fight to the Wildcats for much of the contest. With John Calipari screaming from the sidelines for his team to play harder, the Cats finally listened, and pulled away in the second half.
Archie Goodwin played, what could quite possibly be his worse game in a Kentucky uniform. He finished with 18pts, but the bulk of those came from the charity stripe where he went 10-11. What was hard to watch, was Goodwin's inability to convert on his drives to the basket. Numerous times, Archie drove the lane for a layup just to have it roll off the opposite side of the rim, or to be blocked by either a defender, or the bottom of the backboard. As far as his outside shooting, it was nonexistent as he went 0-3. I can't put all the blame on Goodwin for the lack of outside scoring as Kentucky shot 3-17 from three as a team.
Then there was the play, or lack there of from Alex Poythress. Alex fouled out of the game with 9pts and 9rebs. For Kentucky to be successful, and to be a serious contender come March, Both Poythress and Goodwin have to be consistent double digit scorers. Without these two, there is literally no other consistent scoring option on the floor. I know some will argue the scoring ability of Julius Mays, and Ryan Harrow as an answer for the absence of these guys, but that won't cut it. Julius Mays finished with 5pts against Marshall, and was 0-5 from deep. That won't get it done when your team is needing a basket.
As far as Harrow goes, it was great to see him play with the amount of confidence he showed yesterday. Scoring 23pts on 10-17 shooting is remarkable considering where he was just two weeks ago. So he's showing major signs of improving and doing what Cal wants him to do. But let's wait and see how he does against a high caliber opponent before we label him the next great point guard under John Calipari. The game against Louisville will be an excellent test for Harrow to see how far he has come and how far he has to go. Playing against someone like Peyton Siva is exactlly what he needs.
There was two bright spots in yesterday's game. One being the much improved play of Ryan Harrow, but the other was the play of Nerlens Noel. As far as playing with energy and pure hustle, no one on this team does it better and more consistently than Noel. If there is a loose ball on the floor you can bet Nerlens will be the first one to dive for it. On the defensive end yesterday he had 2 steals, 2 blocks, and altered an uncountable amount of shot attempts to go along with 11pts and 10rebs. You can see improvement in his game everytime he steps on the floor, and that will have to continue through to next Saturday when the Cats and the Cards face off in the !Yum Center.
It was good to see this team respond when it had to against Marshall. Reality is, Kentucky should have been up 20 at the half and won by 40. Chalk up the slow start to the game to players being excited for a chance to go home for Christmas, or looking past Marshall to the Louisville game. Fact is, Kentucky will need a much better effort to pull off the upset next Saturday. For the first time in the Calipari era, Louisville will come into this game as the better team. Let's hope some time with their families and a break from school is enough to get these guys on the right track.
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