Tomorrow the Cats will get a chance to avenge an ugly loss against LSU earlier this season. Despite the final margin of defeat being only 5 points the Cats were manhandled for most of the game. Johnny O’Bryant had the best game of his career with 29 points and 9 rebounds. The Tiger frontcourt blocked 11 shots and dominated the Cats in the paint. Hands down it was the worst performance by the Wildcats this season and they will be out for revenge.
LSU is big and physical inside and the Cats have not responded well to teams that fit that bill. In particular Willie Cauley-Stein has not fared well at all when teams get physical with him. It is very important for him to prove he can play against those types of players. It will be a huge boost to his confidence if he can come out and have a big game against the Tigers. Julius Randle also had his worst game of the season with only 6 points and 5 rebounds against LSU. If Julius and Willie come ready to play it will make a win much easier for the Cats.
Kentucky seems to be slowly turning the corner as a team, and if they come prepared there will not be much LSU can do to stop them. The Cats are in the middle of the stretch run and it time that they must become the team they want to be in March. It would be a big step in the Cats development if they could dominate a good LSU team from start to finish.
The stakes are incredibly high for the Tigers who are currently on the outside looking in at the NCAA tournament. A win at Kentucky would be tremendous for their resume and you can bet they will come into Rupp fired up. Since they have already beat UK they will lose the ability to sneak up and surprise the Cats. In reality they will most likely be walking into a hornet’s nest on Saturday afternoon. The Cats lost their last game in Rupp and also owe the Tigers which will have them extremely hyped for the game.
It will likely be one of the better games that Kentucky has played in Rupp this year. LSU is good enough to be able to battle and keep the score relatively close for most of the game. My prediction is that the Cats frontcourt comes ready to prove a point against the Tigers big men. They will jump out to an early lead and play most of the game up 8-10 points. In the final 5 minutes Kentucky will close out the game strong and will win 77-63. The loss to Florida hides the reality that the Cats are picking up steam at the right time. Cal excels at getting teams to peak in March and as Spring draws ever closer the Wildcats are just starting to bloom.
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