Kentucky was on the road tonight to take on South Carolina for the second time this season. But the home court advantage was not enough of a difference for SC, as the Cats continued their transformation into an actual cohesive unit by playing out of their collective minds.
Kentucky came out swinging behind some early production from Doron Lamb. They established a nice lead and did not look back.
Lamb also had some extra pep in his step on D, but hitting back to back threes within the first three minutes of the game will do that for you. Lamb had 18 points and 4 assists on the night.
The Cats as a whole looked really tight on defense, pressing Carolina into turnovers and making them pay when SC was actually able to get the ball as far as the paint.
Terrence Jones was the catalyst for the Cats. Let me say that again, Terrence Jones was the catalyst for the Cats tonight, he put up a stat line of 16 points, 4 assists, a block and 2 steals with authority. His block with about 2 minutes to go in the first half was, well, that basketball may never be found…Hoffa.
Anthony Davis was on his Lil Wayne (W[I]e are not the same, I am a martian[/I]), reminding everyone what kind of a monster he was tonight, at one point blocking 2 shots in less than 2 seconds, though he was whistled for a foul on the second one. He also followed the aforementioned Jones block with an astronomical swat of his own that took the air out of ball and the arena.
Davis broke Shaquille O’neal’s freshman single season shot blocking record tonight, he has 116 blocks and there are 7 games left in the season. He led the Cats with 22 points, 8 blocks, 8 rebounds, 2 steals and an assist.
UK may wind up giving the LA Clippers a run for their money on the name ‘Lob City’, as Davis and Jones spent as much time above the rim tonight as they did below, putting on a dunk and alley-oop clinic.
Terrence Jones was relentless and ferocious with the basketball. He easily had his best performance this season in terms of effort and style of play as much as production. He and Davis are starting to look like bullies on the court, just eating people’s lunch.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist brought his lunch pail like he does every game, he had another quiet night in terms of stats but maintained his role as the motor and inspiration for the team.
Kentucky as a whole is starting to look like such a different animal in terms of things like ball movement (4 players with 3+ assists for a team total of 17) and post presence as well as defensive rotation. This combined with fighting on the glass, capitalizing on turnovers and trips to the foul line is what is turning this group of talented guys into a national title TEAM.
UK put it on SC in brutal fashion, blowing them out 86-52 in what looked to me like UK’s best game of the season thus far. That is a great thing to be saying in February, especially because they are still nowhere near their ceiling. They are back at Rupp on Tuesday to take on Florida’s all-guard team.
Go Cats.
