Nation of Blue

Basketball

The Cats Outlast the Stache 65-62

We, at Nation of Blue, asked the question: On the road, who will show up? The Freshmen or the veterans? The answer on Saturday January 14th in Knoxville, Tennessee was the freshmen.

Tennessee started the game in a not so Volunteer fashion with back to back 3’s. UK, much like a the heavyweight favorite in a boxing match was stunned by flurry of haymakers in the 1st half. Jaronne Maymon led the charge for Tennessee with 15 points and 10 rebounds, but he was not alone. Jarnell Stokes, a talented freshman got a chance to play and made the most of it. While UK was missing jumpshots, Stokes was not. He played a great for the Vols in only his 2nd career game with 9 points and 4 rebounds. Kudos to the UT coaching staff on playing him since UK had no scouting report on him. They low down and sneaky too.

The older Cats had a rough day. Miller, Jones and Lamb had a combined 18 points on 6-19 shooting, 9 rebounds and 5 turnovers. They also only attempted 7 free throws whereas Kidd-Gilchrist had 12 by himself. They seemed for most of the game tentative , short arming shots and slow on defense. Jones did get 3 blocks and a steal but also collected 5 fouls, 3 of which were silly.

When Lamb struggles to score, this entire UK team struggles to score. Lamb is the cornerstone for the UK offense as he is the best shooter and overall scorer. Lamb had his 2nd worst offensive game as a Cat with 4 points and only 1 made shot (at Arkansas last year he had only 2 points). Unlike some games where UK didn’t really need his offense, they did at Thompson Bowling Arena and he was a no show.

Marquis Teague struggled mightily once again. His 1 assist came in the fist play of the game to MKG for a jumper. From that point Teague had 5 turnovers, 2 or 3 of which were charge calls. When Teague really wants to go to the rack, not many people can stop him, flopping withstanding. He only had 1 assist, 1 rebound and 1 steal and 3 really nice layups. Those are some Saul Smith numbers right there.

Anthony Davis has easily been the most consistent player for the cats all year long. He has had at least 9 rebounds or 12 points or more in every game this year, minus the Penn State blowout. Kentucky needed him to play well and he did. He had 18 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks, 1 shy of the all time UK block record. No one has an Anthony Davis on their team in all of college basketball. Sure, there are other good big men, but they are no AD.

Speaking of “one of a kind”, Micheal Kidd-Gilchrist was once again the floor leader for the Cats. He provided defense and steals when UK needed some stops and he attacked the basket the entire game. His overall tenacity helped wear down the Vols as they had no one to guard him. He had an All-American type game with 17 points, 12 rebounds and 3 huge steals. The MKG train keeps rolling.

The unsung heroes of the game were Kyle Wiltjer who continued the 3 point streak for the UK and Darius Miller who underperformed for 39 minutes and 55 seconds then nailed 2 very clutch free throws that won the game for the cats.

Tennessee fans should look on the bright side though, at least they led at halftime. I mean that’s a moral victory, right? All joking aside, UT now has a defensive minded basketball coach. Gone are the days of Scotty Hopson and JP Prince out of control ball wild 3 point shooting. UT will be a very hard outing for Kentucky in Knoxville for years to come. The Cats win again, 65-62.

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