Saturday afternoon, Kentucky fans and the team itself will get to see what it's like to take the floor without big man Nerlens Noel when they take on border state rival 13-10 (5-6) Tennessee.
After suffering a knee injury against Florida Tuesday night, Nerlens was diagnosed with a torn ACL and sidelined the remainder of the year. A tough blow to a team that looked to be making somewhat of a turnaround as they had just reentered the AP Top 25 after falling out back in November.
Now it's what some might call "gut check time", time to see how the rest of these young players will respond to a hostile environment without Nerlens Noel who was widely considered the heart and soul of this years squad. We seen how the team responded when he had to be carried off the floor against Florida, it wasn't pretty at all.
There is possible outcomes that could happen now that Noel is gone:
1.) The guys come together, actually play as a team and tap into the talent they have teased us with at times this season and close the season out strong...
or...
2.) They pick up where they left off at Florida and completely implode...
As a Kentucky fan you have got to hope and pray for the first option.
Just to give you an idea of what lies in wait for the Cats in Thompson-Boling Arena Saturday, here's a numbers comparison....
TENN CATS
PPG: 64 75
RPG: 36 39
APG: 10 15
SPG: 4 6
BPG: 4 7
TPG: 13 13
FG%: 42 48
FT%: 67 64
3P%: 28 36
There's an old saying that numbers can be deceiving, in this case it's true. When looking at this comparison you have to account for the fact that we will not have Nerlens Noel's 10ppg, 9.5rbg, 2.3spg or his nation leading 4.4bpg. Once you take that into consideration, the stats paint a whole different picture than what it actually shows, there actually isn't that much separating these two teams after all.
Now that the numbers out of the way, let's look at some 'Rocky Top' history...
EST: 1794
Location: Knoxville
Colors: UT Orange/White
Nickname: Volunteers
NOTABLE ALUMNI:
Pam Tillis (country music artist)
Dolly Parton (Country Music legend, Actress)
Candace Parker (WNBA Star and former Lady Vol)
Kevin Nash (former WWE/WCW Superstar and also a former basketball player for Tennessee)
Just for kicks, here's a picture that Kevin Nash Tweeted out last year of him attempting a jump shot over Sam Bowie.
Kentucky vs. Tennessee History:
Kentucky and Tennessee has played many times throughout the years and much like every other SEC opponent, Kentucky has pretty much owned them. The all-time record is Kentucky 144 UT66, this includes the current 6 game winning streak the Cats are on against the Vols. Kentucky's last loss against UT came in 2010.
It isn't always a guarantee that the Cats will defeat Tennessee, especially when the game is played in Thompson-Boling Arena. Kentucky has a 15-11 record when playing there since it opened it 1987. The only good thing about that building is it was the setting for Jodie Meeks' record breaking night when he torched the Vols for 54 points setting the all-time record at Kentucky for most points scored in a single game. The only bad thing about that night was Billy Gillispie telling Jodie to stop shooting the ball. What a complete train wreck he was...
I'm not even going to try and guess what the outcome will be on Saturday, what's the point? I just hope these kids can put all this behind them and finally show what every single Kentucky fan knows they are capable of because I promise you this. Even without Nerlens Noel in the lineup, Kentucky will still have the most talent on the floor Saturday and it's not even close, now lets see if they can actually use it for a change....
See ya Saturday
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