Thread: Kentucky/Mississippi State Postgame Notes

Kentucky Basketball Postgame Notes
Kentucky vs. Mississippi State
February 21, 2012
Humphrey Coliseum – Starkville, Miss.

-- Kentucky improves to 27-1, 13-0 in the Southeastern Conference, while Mississippi State falls to 19-9,
6-7.
-- The Wildcats are 88-20 all-time against Mississippi State and 32-12 against Mississippi State in Starkville.
-- UK is now 898-251 in SEC regular season action.
-- The Wildcats are riding a 19-game winning streak and have won seven straight on the road. The 19-game streak ties for the longest streak in the Calipari era with the 19-0 start by the 2009-10 squad. The last Wildcat team to win seven-straight on the road in SEC was the 2002-03 team that went 8-0.
-- Kentucky has won its first 13 in league play, the best SEC start for the Wildcats since the 2002-03 team went 16-0.
-- UK returns to action on Saturday, hosting Vanderbilt. Tip-off is scheduled for noon ET and the game will be televised on CBS.

Team game notes
-- The Wildcats used the starting combination of Terrence Jones, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Doron Lamb, Anthony Davis and Marquis Teague for the 19th time. UK is 18-1 with that starting five.
-- Darius Miller was the first sub off the bench for the 17th time this season.
-- Kentucky extended its streak of games with a 3-pointer to 815 games, the third-longest streak in the country.
-- The Wildcats 13-point deficit was their largest all season. Previously, the Cats largest was nine against North Carolina and eight against Tennessee.
-- Kentucky trailed 41-28 at the half, its largest halftime deficit this season and only the fifth time this year UK has trailed going into halftime.
-- With five blocks, the Wildcats moved to 14th on the NCAA’s single-season blocks list.
-- The Wildcats took their first lead of the game, 63-62, with 4:11 left in regulation on a Michael-Kidd Gilchrist lay-up.
-- UK came back from 13 points down for the victory. It marks the largest UK comeback since it came back from down 18 against Miami (Ohio) at the beginning of the 2009-10 season.
-- Kentucky shot a blistering 50 pct. from the field in the second half, while holding Mississippi State to just 32 pct. from the field.
-- The Wildcats turned the ball over just nine times, the 10th time this season UK has limited its turnovers to single digits.

Individual game notes

#1 Darius Miller
-- Finished with 12 points, moving to 46th on UK’s all-time scoring list with 1,130 points.
-- Has hit three 3-pointers in back-to-back games.


#3 Terrence Jones
-- Has scored in double-figures in six of the last seven games.


#14 Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
-- Recorded his sixth double-double of the season.


#23 Anthony Davis
-- Tallied his 12th double-double of the season, tied for third all-time among UK freshmen.


#25 Marquis Teague
-- Hit his first 3-pointer since canning a pair of 3s in Florida game on Feb. 7.
-- Finished with multiple 3-pointers for the fifth time this season.

MSU - post mortum

There are a lot of ways to look at last night's win over MSU. One might be that it was another terrific UK comeback win. Another might be that the team responds well to halftime coaching adjustments. I look at it as this: I see a team that has evolved from a collection of very good high school players into a team that does not accept anything other than to win the game. I used to cringe last December when Marquis Teague would race down the floor into traffic and either make a poor pass, or take a low probability shot. Pure high school play. It reminded me of a "Saul Smith & Lavon Williams" hybrid player...and not in a good way. Fast forward to February; Mr. Teague now looks like a well diciplined and experienced NCAA point guard that handles the ball well, and finds an open look jumper or open player. Love it. One of Anthony Davis' under-credited contributions to the team is his steady demeanor. If he commits a foul, or scores on a lob pass, he just does not become too excited in that moment that he loses his concentration. I would also say the same about Kidd-Gilcrist' disposition. He is a tough player and when he scores on a play, he acts as though he has been there before. That kind of steady focus will win ballgames, and is essential in winning a championship.


Last night's game will become a "blueprint" for every coaching staff that will play Kentucky. You will see more full court pressure, pull Davis out long, and more 3-point shot makers in the game from the opposing sides. I am sure that Kentucky's coaching staff will begin work on countering this style of defense beginning today. By the way, I want to add that a healthy Kyle Wiltger could be a huge weapon in the Cat's arsenal against certain defenses. Very few 6'10 forwards have his shot range. That would also include Anthony Davis as we saw way too many times last night. The "Closer" award of the game has to go to Darius Miller with his 50% 3's, 43% FG's and perfect FT's. When he gets hot on the perimeter, good things happen to the score fast.

No one knows if the Cat's are going to hang their 8th Banner at Rupp this year, but I beleive that they have the right mixture of talent and team chemistry to add to their collection. Go Cats Go !