The first half of the Kentucky vs. Stanford game looked like the other games the Wildcats have played this year. They show some great offensive sets and execute well but on the opposite end of the court there is something to be desired. Not to take anything away from Stanford and Landry Fields who has played a heck of a tournament and continues his streak tonight. Jeremy Green is shooting well tonight having hit 4-5. But back to the UK defense: they do fairly well 1 on 1 but as a team they leave so much open; offensive rebounding opportunities to be specific. Patrick Patterson continues to shoot and make the 3-pointer. If this continues it is going to open up a lot of opportunities for DeMarcus Cousins in the post as defenders will have to respect his range. At the half, Stanford leads UK 38-32.
I originally thought the Cats would be well on their way to 6-0 with 15 minutes left in the game. My original thought was wrong. With 15:25 left the Cats looked like a different, more energized team but were still down 44-40. With 12:20 left in the game Stanford was still battling but appeared to have to work harder than they did in the first half. The score was 46-45 at that point.
This game was looking like another OT game similar to what these two teams played in 1998 Final Four when KY beat Stanford.
With 6:00 minutes left, the Cats had a 1 point lead and the faithful UK fans in Cancun were working the players with chants of “Go Big Blue”. Stanford was obviously getting frustrated and made a few turnovers that they had avoided in the first 34 minutes of the game. With 5:00 left, the Cats had a 3 point advantage 56-53. They were very composed and very patient on the offensive end and seemed to work harder on the defensive end but the Stanford Cardinals would not give up. Landry Fields sank 2 free throws with 3:20 left in the game and Stanford regained the lead 57-56. From there, the game moved to a tie at 59-59 but then the Stanford Cardinals got a boost in the way of a made 2 pointer and then Cousins committed an offensive foul on the other end. With 1:27 left Stanford calls a timeout up by 2, 61-59. After the timeout they ran a set play but missed the jumper but got a fresh 35 seconds with an offensive rebound. With 51.7 seconds left, Stanford committed an offensive foul and UK got the ball back. John Wall tied the game at 61 with 13′ jumper and 30.6 seconds left in regulation. Harris committed a foul on the inbound play and put Landry on the line where he made bothfree throws. Stanford up 63-61. UK had a chance to tie the game, dumps the ball to Cousins in the post and although he made a nice move towards the basket he missed the shot but drew the foul. 2 shots to tie it and Cousins missed the first. Missed the second and then committed a foul over the back trying to get the rebound. Coach Cal was visibly upset with the miss and the foul. Jared Manns shots 2 at the other end and missed them both. UK with another chance to tie, Wall drives and missed the shot but was fouled. John Wall goes to the line with 2 shots to tie the game and 2.4 seconds left in regulation. He makes them both and ties the game 63-63 with 2.4 to go. Stanford calls for a timeout. The final play of regulation goes to Stanford, throws a hail mary on the inbound pass and the game goes into OT.
I said previously that this looked like another Kentucky vs. Stanford OT game and it was. Stanford enters the extra 5:00 minutes with 2 key players fouled out, Kentucky has 1 which was DeMarcus Cousins.
Stanford scored the first point in OT with a free throw and Wall missed UK’s first OT attempted shot. With 3:19 left in OT Stanford led by 1 point 64-63. Ramon Harris scores the Wildcats first points of OT with a floater, but committed an offensive foul in the process. Stanford ties the game with one made free throw from that foul. The next possession UK played their best defensive set of the night forcing a long three and ultimately a shot clock violation. 1:22 left in OT UK leads 66-65. Bledsoe drains a long three with 30 seconds left to put UK up by 4. Fields throws up a desperation 3 and missed it, UK rebounds with 10.7 seconds left. Darius Miller makes 2 free throws, Stanford turns the ball over again and John Wall throws down a last second dunk for the win, 73-65.
WHAT A GAME! It was nowhere near what I expected but it was a great game to watch. John Wall played all 45 minutes and Ramon Harris makes a few key plays down the stretch to help propel the Cats to the win.
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