What did Kentucky’s offense in the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] half have in common with the city in which they played Tuesday night? Neither existed.
Arkansas-Little Rock played an outstanding 1[SUP]st[/SUP] half against the faster, stronger Kentucky Wildcats. The Trojans looked fearless as they made almost every shot they took. In all actuality, they didn’t. They shot just 31%, but the misses weren’t because of UK’s defense.
UK also had trouble turning the ball over in the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] half. They had 13 turnovers in the first 20 minutes of play. Most of those turnovers were mishandled passes or simple miscues. UK played as tight as a drum. It wasn’t so much the Trojan defense, but rather miscommunication and rushed decision making. Combine that with multiple missed bunny jumpers and layups and UK was down 5 at the half.
Just as it seemed the mediocrity of Louisville was rubbing off on the Cats, the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] half started and Anthony Davis and company turned up the heat. Specifically, it was at the 13 minute mark when UALR started getting tired. The Trojans went the next 6 minutes without a point, during that time UK scored 14 points. After back to back jumpers by lamb and MKG, Anthony Davis scored on the deepest shot of his young UK career as his foot was right inside the 3 point line.
It was just moments later that Darius Miller scored his 1,000[SUP]th[/SUP] point as a Wildcat. Fittingly it was on a 3 point basket. I for one have fist pumped every three that Miller has ever made and have rooted for his success from day 1. Miller was second on the team in scoring Tuesday night with 15 points and he also had 6 rebounds. Not bad for coming off the bench and a poor performance against Louisville this past Saturday.
Anthony Davis is growing right before our very eyes. He had an outstanding game as he collected 16 total rebounds and scored a team high 22 points. He was everywhere, grabbing lose balls, blocking shots, running the break and just overall hustle. He is an amazing talent and it seems that we have only seen the tip of the iceburg.
MKG came back down to earth as he had 6 turnovers, 5 of which came in the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] half. He did however grab 10 boards and notch 9 points. Teague continues to struggle offensively as he only had 6 points, but he did have 5 assists to just 2 turnovers. I’m sure Cal will say about Teague “He’ll be fine”. Terrence Jones finally broke double digit points for the first time since the UNC game. He had 10 points, 6 rebounds and 4 turnovers. He seems to be getting closer to being his old self, but not there yet. Lamb finished with 9 points on 4-7 shooting.
Most importantly, UK won the game. It’s good to see after a sluggish start, the Cats can put a poor performance behind them and just play Kentucky Basketball. The #2 team in the nation opens conference play Saturday when they play South Carolina at Rupp. Until then.
