I was looking at Cornell’s schedule and I was looking for a possible common opponent with Kentucky. The Big Red opened the year playing the Crimson Tide of Alabama on Saturday November Th. It was the first game of the year for both teams and seems like forever ago.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Alabama’s Coach, Anthony Grant, was in his first game in Tuscaloosa and was just learning his team. I am going to try to find the similarities and differences of how Kentucky and Cornell won over Alabama and lets see if it could play a part in tomorrow’s Sweet 16 matchup.
[QUOTE]Ryan Wittman scored 23 points and Jeff Foote added 17 points and seven rebounds, as the Cornell Big Red surprised the Alabama Crimson Tide, 71-67, at Coleman Coliseum in the season opener for both schools. Alabama scored the first basket of the game but the Big Red scored the next 10 points and never trailed again. Cornell took a 26-20 lead at halftime. Cornell’s biggest lead was 35-20 with 18:00 left in regulation. Alabama closed to within a point at 54-53 with 6:15 left, but never took the lead in the four-point loss. Cornell shot 50 percent (24-of-48) from the floor on the afternoon and 55.6 percent (10-of-18) from three-point range. [URL=”http://statsheet.com/mcb/games/2009/11/14/cornell-71-alabama-67/recap”]Source[/URL] [/QUOTE] Sounds like the Big Red got off to a quick start and never looked back. They burned the nets up with 55% from 3. If they shoot like that tomorrow night it could be a scary game. Looking at the graphs, they got outrebounded by Alabama, but when you shoot so well there isn’t a lot of offensive rebounds to get. Looking at this game has me worried if the Cats come out slow, because the more confidence a shooting team has, the more shots they are going to shoot and make. Lets take a look at the matchup the Cats had with Alabama on Feb 9th in Rupp Arena.
[QUOTE] John Wall totaled 22 points, 10 rebounds and three steals to help third-ranked Kentucky overcome a slow start and beat Alabama, 66-55, at Rupp Arena. DeMarcus Cousins also posted a double-double with 16 points and 13 boards for the Wildcats (23-1, 8-1 SEC), who have won four straight since suffering their lone loss of the season, a 68-62 setback at South Carolina on January 26. “I thought we were pretty good,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “John Wall in the first half had turnovers. He lost three balls or four that were turnovers that weren’t even forced. In the second half, he played. He ran our team. We were grinding it out at times, which we have to learn to do and I was happy we were able to do.” The Crimson Tide jumped out to an 11-4 lead in the first four minutes, but Wall hit a three-pointer and Eric Bledsoe made two free throws for a 17-13 Kentucky advantage. Alabama quickly tied the game before a Patrick Patterson dunk and a Cousins bucket gave the Wildcats the lead for good. Kentucky recovered from its early struggles and led 31-24 at halftime. Following the break, DeAndre Liggins knocked down a trey to stretch Kentucky’s margin to 42-28. The Tide whittled their deficit to 61-55 on an Anthony Brock shot from beyond the arc with about a minute to go, but the Wildcats held on down the stretch.[URL=”http://http://statsheet.com/mcb/games/2010/02/09/alabama-55-kentucky-66-2010/recap”]Source[/URL] [/QUOTE]
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[*]If you remember this game the Cats stuggled early. Ugh! I think the Cats might have gotten past not getting out of the starting gate since they have been rolling lately in the tournament. It is still a worry nevertheless.
[*]Kentucky dominated the Crimson Tide defensively holding them to only 33% from the field. When Cornell played Alabama the Tide shot 46% from the field. I think Kentucky’s defense will not let Cornell get as many wide open looks as the Alabama defense obviously did.
[*]The Cats also owned the paint with DeMarcus getting another double double. The Cats also went to the line 31 times. If Kentucky can bang it inside and control the tempo of the game and go to the foul line consistently it will keep the Cornell shooters out of rhythm.
[*]Turnovers were also an issue for the Cats at the time, as they had 16 turnovers vs. Alabama. Cornell had 14 turnovers in their early season matchup.
[/LIST]Well, I don’t know if this shed a light on the outcome of the Sweet 16 matchup between Cornell and the Cats, but I did find it very interesting to see how well they played vs. a common opponent. I just wish Alabama would have beaten them.
Since I couldn’t find highlights of the Cornell/Alabama game, take a look at the trip to Alabama from a Cornell perspective:
[youtube_sc width=430 url=fJ-_YL2ksig]
Take a look at Every Point Scored during the game at Rupp vs. Alabama
[youtube_sc width=430 url=pwk9-LuvFbk]
