Kentucky beats Missouri 86-37 Call it simple confidence that Kentucky displayed a hell of a game against Missouri which makes us 16-0 now. The Wildcats defense was especially impressive holding the Tigers to a season low 27 percent shooting that created a lot of offensive chances and Aaron Harrison took full advantage with five 3 pointers and 16 points. This helped Kentucky finally earn a conference victory in regulation by drilling Missouri 86-37 last night. That assured that the Wildcats would go home early for a change after really needing overtime to beat Mississippi and Texas A&M by nine total points. Kentucky (16-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) had the overmatched Tigers (7-9, 1-2) under control by halftime with a 44-18 lead. It eventually reached 49 in the final minute as the Wildcats rolled to their most decisive outcome since last months 39 points against UCLA. We needed to have a win where we could get our swag back a little bit coach Calipari said and I think it was all based on an effort and intensity and they never let up through the clock or even through the game. Harrison played a big role in that by making most of the Wildcats eight long range baskets. It was the second time in three games he has made at least five from behind the arc, so people don’t rule him out as quickly as some of you have been doing. It felt pretty good to knock down a couple Harrison said and we should applaud him in doing this last night. Willie Cauley Stein added 13 points and Anthony Towns 12 with 10 rebounds and five blocks as Kentucky shot 48 percent from the field. The Wildcats also outrebounded the Tigers 46-27 including 30 defensive boards. Willie Cauley Stein shoots under pressure from Missouris Keanau Post during the second half of last night’s game, but can’t leave Booker out and I think he is an outstanding player who is an asset to Kentucky. Missouris starters meanwhile combined for just 27 points on 11of 44 shooting. Wes Clark and reserve Keanu Post each had 10 points for the Tigers who lost their second straight game. Great performance by Kentucky coach Kim Anderson commented and said they didn’t play well. Kim Anderson remarked that Kentucky came out and physically controlled us from the very start of the game. I admire a coach who comes out and compliments other teams in what they have accomplished in this game last night. Kentucky improved to 7-0 against Missouri and earned a big win over the Tigers after close outcomes the past two seasons. Most important for the Wildcats were reclaiming the swagger that had been missing in these close SEC wins. Though Calipari was happy with his teams resolve in gutting out those wins he said that enough is enough and wanted his team to get back to dominating opponents. Doing so required some lineup tweaks as Calipari started sophomore guard Dominique Hawkins in a quest for energy and defense. The defensive specialist finished with six points, three assists and two steals in about 20 minutes. Hawkins said he was really excited, but still kind of nervous of starting for the first time since against Montana State in November. He started off really good and guess coach (Cal) liked what I was doing. Kentucky earned a big halftime lead as a result with a big improvement from recent efforts that exposed vulnerabilities, especially on their defense. Shooting had been another concern since SEC play started for the Wildcats who entered the game better from behind the arc 20 of 48 which is 42 percent the past two games than inside 31 percent. That wasnt an issue last night as Kentucky made 19 of 38 which is 50 percent inside the line with Cauley Stein even making a jumper that got a big cheer from over 24,000 people who came out for the late evening start. Kentucky travels to Alabama on Saturday evening and this is one came I have been worried about, but if Kentucky plays like they did last night don’t believe they can beat us. We have to think about this being a road game though and we can’t expect to win by a lot of points like we did with Missouri. Alabama will be out for blood, but believe our Cats already know this and will probably be prepared or at least I hope so anyway. We just have to hope for the best, because I will love them no matter what (win or lose). Now we need to make it 17-0 and we will if they beat Alabama. GO BIG BLUE!!!!
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 21:50:02 +0000
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