Kentucky went platinum in their new Nike Elite uniforms tonight at Rupp Arena, to greet the Tennessee Volunteers for the second time this year.
Starting 5: Teague, Lamb, Kidd-Gilchrist, Jones, and Davis.
The first time down, Terrence Jones got the ball (as he does every game) and after a drive, kick out and dish via MKG, Anthony Davis hit a pretty 20 foot jumper. Two Tennessee turnovers saw UK up 6-0 quickly.
On the next Tennessee possession, Jarnell Stokes attempted to pick up where he left off against the Cats in his college debut, but Anthony Davis was not having it. A viscous swat gave Stokes a proper introduction to Kentucky Basketball.
Davis hit another bank shot and after Teague took it to the rack, Davis laid it up to give the Cats a 10 point lead. Do you see a trend yet? (Davis had 8 of Kentucky’s first 14 points)
After one of many missed layups by Tennessee, Terrence Jones took it to the hole and got the bucket to go on an and 1. His trip to the foul line was delayed by a shoving match and resulting double technicals for Jordan Mcrae and Anthony Davis.
From here, the intensity level shot through the roof and as the play got physical, Davis drew an offensive foul from UT, and so did Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. With thirteen minutes to go in the first half Tennessee had committed 8 fouls to Kentucky’s 1.
It seemed like every time Tennessee entered the paint, they were greeted by a canopy of 3 or more UK defenders.
Marquis Teague was the next beneficiary of Tennessee’s frustrations, he got to the line and hit two free throws to give UK a 20-5 lead. Teague looked great in the first period of the game, making wonderful passes and taking it to the cup when it was time to score, he finished the half with 7 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, and a steal.
Kentucky started the game 11-11 from the field and seemed like the could do no wrong on either end. This was exemplified by a defensive play made by Darius Miller, where he pressed his man under the UT basket and as they were both falling out of bounds and Miller found the ball in his own hands, he deflected it off of his man to give Kentucky possession.
Renardo Woolridge was the only thing keeping Tennessee alive as he was 5-5 (Dickie V moment…are you kidding me?) from down town, he finished the half with 15.
At any other point this year or any other (talking to you Devon Downey), a performance like Woolridge had in the first half for Tennessee would have spelled doom for UK, but tonight it did not matter. UK was rolling. They shot 68% from the field.
This was the first time since late November where Kentucky came out and just smothered a team from the opening tip.
It was a statement half for Anthony Davis, who led the Cats with 10 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks (triple-double watch is in effect). The Cats as a whole responded to Cal’s call for physical play, they headed to the locker room up, 38-13.
