Wildcat Basketball

Here is the self acclaimed University of Kentucky Basketball Theme Song. This is a must listen. Make sure you pay attention to all the words...Scoupe did a great job fitting a lot of UK History throughout the song.

The Wildcats failed to cover the spread in their 86 to 73 win that was frustrating to watch for 2/3rds of the game. Out of the gate Wall, Cousins and Paterson got into foul trouble which allowed Long Beach to hold on to their confidence. Liggins played the most he's played all year (which isn't saying much) as the bench played for most of the first half.

It seemed everyone was already enjoying Christmas dinner and opening presents when the game started. There was definitely a lack of focus on the game, and you could see it. Cousins received a technical foul early after lunging at a long beach player when he was shoved. DeMarcus had a roller coaster of a game where his emotions moved him to make great plays, and some bone headed ones as well. That's something I'm sure Coach is going to address over the next few weeks..

With three minutes left to play, the real Kentucky Wildcats showed up. It was obvious they had grown tired of letting Long Beach hang close. With a few fast breaks and a three by Darius Miller, it was obvious that Long Beach had missed their chance for an upset.

The Cats play Hartford on Tuesday and the Music City Bowl on Sunday....It has the makings of a great weekend! Don't be stingy, and remember we all got our Christmas gift early (Coach Cal). Under different leadership, we would probably end up repeating the Gardner Webb incident.

Merry Christmas!

This is the last game for the Cats before we break for the Christmas Holiday. Don't forget to tune in at 1:00PM EST on Fox Sports South. This is the last day of work for the week for most people...so lets be honest, if your at work today, there's not much work getting done. Go take a break (an extra break) and watch the game!

Point spread is 20 points. That's three more than Drexel (spread was 17) and you know what happened there. Never the less, this is college basketball and anything can happen. So stay focused CAT FANS! Keep a look out for Liggins to get some more playing time today. I think we have some serious competition for minutes between Liggins, Dotson and Harris. I think the defensive end of the floor could be the deciding factor.

Keep an eye out for T.J. Robinson. He's averaging around 17 points a game, but his field goal percentage is down. That means he's putting up more shots than the year before. That's good for us, but if he was to get in the zone (like everyone does when they get to Rupp), he could become annoying.

Just for the fun of it...we included the Cousins and Wildcat John Wall Dance at the bottom of the post Leave a comment to give us your prediction on the final score.




Rank and Records
LBLBSUSU

UK


RPI
#46

#11


Strength of Schedule
#20

#155


Overall
6-5

12-0


Conference
0-0

0-0


Home
3-0

7-0


Away
2-3

1-0


Top 25
0-3

2-0


RPI Top 50
1-3

2-0








PTS
FGM
FGA
FTM
FTA
3PM
3PA
REB
OR
DR
AST
TO
STL
BLK
PF
DQs
TF
E





LBSU
841
295
634
171
272
80
207
389
131
258
164
170
87
25
187
2
0
0



UK
981
352
703
200
286
77
183
510
187
323
194
198
87
93
189
7
0
0



LBSU Opponents
829
323
684
121
182
62
210
402
136
266
168
170
75
34
228
4
0
0



UK Opponents
768
272
718
132
196
92
260
361
146
215
145
175
93
41
244
9
0
0











POS
PPG
PPP
FLR%
Eff
eFG%
TS%
FTR
2P%
FTP%
3P%
OR%
DR%
A%
A/T
T%
S%
B%





LBSU
803.0
73.0
1.05
53.0
104.7
52.8
55.1
42.9
51.1
20.3
28.5
33.0
65.5
55.6
0.96
21.2
10.8
3.7



UK
844.0
70.3
1.16
59.8
116.2
55.5
58.5
40.7
56.1
20.4
23.5
46.5
68.9
55.1
0.98
23.5
10.3
13.0



LBSU Opponents
803.0
73.0
1.03
53.7
103.2
51.8
53.8
26.6
63.0
14.6
22.4
34.5
67.0
52.0
0.99
21.2
9.3
5.4



UK Opponents
844.0
70.3
0.91
46.8
91.0
44.3
47.3
27.3
46.9
17.2
35.9
31.1
53.5
53.3
0.83
20.7
11.0
5.8

What does confetti snow angels, "Cool And The Gang" and forty points all have in common? That's right, It's Kentucky's 2,000 Win!



Announcers for the game included one of Kentucky's favorite alumni Jamal Mashburn and the famous Jimmy Dykes (insert sarcasm here). He's not famous and he's quickly moving up my list of most annoying commentators. He did his job and tried to make it sound like Kentucky had major defensive lapses when playing low profile teams. If it was the first game of the season I would understand, but if you've watched just the highlights of the last three games, you would know that there is no way this team was losing to Drexel.



Demarcus Cousins got things going by scoring the first four points of the game and you could just tell that tonight was going to be a good night (insert Black Eyed Peas music here). DeAndre Liggins made a few plays including a three point shot that looked like he'd been in the rotation all season. He's quickly become my dark-horse favorite for the rest of the season. If he keeps this up, I can see him splitting time between Dotson and Miller.

At the break, Kentucky lead by a cool thirty six. When Calipari was interviewed while going into the locker room, he mentioned Liggins and Bleadsoe's energy being a difference maker. Now I'm not saying those guys weren't hustling and they are two of my favorite players,...but is he really watching the same game I was watching? How about Cousins and Patterson?

When the second half started, the Wildcats continued right where they left off. Eventually stretching the lead out to fifty and eventually the third string squad took the floor as Calipari put it on cruise control.



Stat
Game
Season Avg
Opp Season Avg












Points
44
88
60
81
62
64


FG Att
55
58
56
58
51
59


FG Made
17
31
22
29
20
22


FG Pct
30.9
53.4
39.8
50.1
39.9
37.9


FT Att
7
19
18
23
24
16


FT Made
5
17
11
16
17
11


FT Pct
71.4
89.5
63.6
69.9
69.5
67.3


3pt FG Att
17
13
16
15
12
21


3pt FG Made
5
9
4
6
4
7


3pt FG Pct
29.4
69.2
29.2
42.1
34.2
35.4


Rebounds
22
45
35
42
36
30


Off Rebs
8
14
11
15
11
12


Def Rebs
14
31
24
26
25
17


Team Rebs
1
3
3
2
4
3


Assists
10
20
12
16
10
12


Steals
7
8
6
7
5
7


Blocks
4
6
3
7
4
3


Turnovers
15
14
13
16
14
14


Fouls
14
8
21
15
17
20



After the game it rained confetti as the team put on their black "UK2K" T-Shirts. Adoph Rupp's son, Joe B. Hall and Junior Patrick Patterson all spoke to the crowd of 24,354 . Paterson thanked the fans and told Hazel and Karen Keightley that they (the team) knew Mr. Keightley was watching and they loved them. WOW!...Classy words from the Junior.

One of the most concerning moments during the game was when Jimmy Dykes reffered to this team as "Cal's Kids". I actually cringed and got weak when I heard this. Does he actually think this sounds good? He said it more than once in an obviouse attempt to make it stick, but Mashburn wasn't playing into it. I actually think he was embarrassed for him. You know, like when your mom or dad would say something they thought was so cool and it did nothing but embarrass you in front of your friends. It was just like that!

We've got to come up with a new name before someone actually runs with this. If you have any ideas, please leave them as a comment in the bottom of this post.



Next stop Long Beach State as we go for #2001! Keep Rolling Cats!

So when is the last time that a Drexel ticket sold for more than $225 a ticket? What's quickly become the hottest ticket in town, the game tonight against the Drexel Dragons should mark the 2,000 win for the University of Kentucky.
http://cgi.ebay.com/UK-KENTUCKY-WILDCATS-BASKETBALL-VS-DREXEL_W0QQitemZ290383016153QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Tickets_all_in_one?hash=item439c2d30d9

107 Years in the making this game will put Calipari in the record books much earlier than many predicted. Here are some quotes from Calipari on the game tonight...

"First of all, I'm such a small part of the 2,000 wins. But, there is a sense of responsibility when you are in this seat."

"The minute you sit in the seat I'm in, you understand the importance to the state. I'm happy we are up against it now. Let's just get it over and move on to what we have to do this season.
When Perry Stevenson was asked what the team thought about going for 2,000 he had this to say

“We are approaching it as just another game. I am sure that we will celebrate after. There has not been much talk about it. You just have to approach it like it is just another game, but in the back of everyone's mind it feels good to be the first.”
Keep an eye out for Drexels Jamie Harris and Gerald Colds. They do most of scoring.
Here's a quick high level team comparison....












Rank and Records
DREX

UK


RPI
#144

#18


Strength of Schedule
#199

#178


Overall
6-5

11-0


Conference
1-0

0-0


Home
4-1

6-0


Away
2-4

1-0


Top 25
0-1

2-0


RPI Top 50
1-2

2-0



Leave a comment to let us know how you plan on celebrating win 2,000!