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In what was at times a hard fought battle, and at times Kentucky just being Kentucky, the Cats take down the Gators for the conference regular season sweep, 74-59.
Terrence Jones got the Cats off to a quick start with the first 8 points in the game for Kentucky, making his first 4 shots. The Wildcats were running and gunning and seemingly everywhere on the floor, making this Gator squad look more than inept to compete. With four minutes left in the first half, Florida starting making a run hitting wide open threes, along with Patrick Young crashing the boards down low getting put backs.
At the half Kentucky lead by eight, 40-32, and Terrence Jones controlled the Cats with 14 of their 40 points.
In the second half Florida came back with a strong Gator bite cutting the Kentucky lead all the way down to 2 points. The Cats looked physically tired and were getting beat in transition, leaving several wide open shots for the Gators. This was something we probably have never seen out of this team, but for a minute there they just looked exhausted and beat.
Then, Cal did what he does best, although is rarely recognized for: coached. He called a timeout, calmed the Cats down and made adjustments. Calipari realized what Florida was doing. When Kentucky would put up a shot, they were sending a man all the way down the court. Then, the Gators get the rebound and have a man down the floor wide open because he had a head start. With his adjustments in that brilliant timeout, Kentucky went on a run extending the lead back out to 8 and eventually winning by 15, the road team never looked back.
Some things to note:
* Darius came up huge again, hitting a clutch shot right when Kentucky needed it. If there is one reason I truly believe this is the year for Number 8, it is Darius Miller.
* Getting a road win is one thing, ruining a team’s senior day is another, and going undefeated in conference play, which hasn’t been done by ANY team since the 2002-2003 season, is the icing on our big blue cake. By the way, that last team to go undefeated in conference play was the Kentucky Wildcats.
* I want to give a shout out to the couple hundred fans that came out to watch the game today at the Fox and Hound in Louisville. I loved hearing the chants of “undefeated” in that room. The joy and smiles of everyone there is what makes it truly special to be a Wildcat fan.
* When Davis and Jones play like they did today, there is no one in the nation that can beat this team. How many times have we said that this year? If the Cats are making the three they are unstoppable, if MKG is in he won’t let them lose, when Teague controls the game no team can touch them. This team has so many weapons, how do you stop them all?
* Anthony Davis ended with another amazing performance: 22 points, 12 rebounds 6 blocks.
* Terrence Jones finished with 19 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals.
* Kentucky only had 6 turnovers for the game….pretty amazing.
Next on deck is the SEC tournament down in Blue Orleans, anyone have room for me in their suitcase?
GO.CATS.
