There was much to be learned from the Kentucky Wildcats overtime victory against the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Humphrey Colliseium last night. If you are a fan and watched the game, you should have picked up on some key take-aways. The players, on both sides of the court, should have learned a lot too. Let’s take a look…
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
[B]TOUGH OPPONENTS 101:[/B]
In Division I basketball, any team can have a good night or at least put themselves in a position to win against a ranked team. On paper Mississippi State should have been completely out-played by the Wildcats. However, as Jimmy Dykes mentioned 1,213 times during the game a desperate team is a dangerous team. A group of talented guys whose NCAA tournament hopes are on the line will leave nothing on the bench. Kentucky will face this type of challenge from this point forward.
[B]DEANDRE LIGGINS 201:[/B]
Liggins is gaining trust from the coaching staff as well as his teammates. Everyone has wondered what the early season problems were for Liggins to keep him from playing but those are obviously in the past and we’ve moved on. A part of the advancement process has been for DeAndre to re-establish himself and right now he seems to be the key 6th man for the Cats. Everyone watching the last 4 seconds of the game wanted nothing more than for DeAndre to hit that shot and end the Bulldogs hopes at going to overtime. I’m not saying it was the best option for a last second play but Liggins accepted the inbound pass and threw up a tough shot that bounced off the rim. The learning here isn’t that Liggins missed the last second shot, it’s that the coaching staff and his teammates trusted him enough with the ball to give him the chance. That says a lot for DeAndre’s progress.
[B]COMICS AND CLASS 301:[/B]
The Cats showed a sense of humor and a level of class that some thought was impossible. We all laughed at DeMarcus Cousins gester of “holla at me” after a dunk which was in response to the unnecessary phone calls and text messages he received from Mississippi State fans in the days leading up to the game. More so than the humor, we saw DeMarcus play an extended period of the game with 4 fouls while maintaining his composure throughout the entire game and not picking up nunber 5. It wouldn’t have been out of line for him to put on a terrible display of rudeness (like throwing stuff at fans, cussing or taunting them after EVERY good play) but he remained composed and kept his cool.
In the end, it was a tough game and a good win for the Wildcats. It was a game that provided a lot of learnings to the team and the fans which will be critical as we edge closer to March. The Wildcats will have to play many more tough games to reach the finals and win the NCAA Tournament this year.
