Kentucky Basketball: Wildcats back on track with road win over Ole Miss

Last Saturday, Kentucky Basketball absorbed a thorough beating against Tennessee, but bounced back Tuesday night with a road victory over Ole Miss

There aren’t enough vulgar verbs in the English language to appropriately annunciate what the Tennessee Volunteers did to Kentucky this past weekend. It was a wretched performance, worthy of the old coach’s cliche “burn the tape.” Of course, Senior forward Reid Travis was sidelined for the third consecutive game with a knee injury, but that is no excuse for the putrid Wildcat performance. Jordan Bone’s rat tail and Grant William’s flop-a-thon housed Kentucky from tip-off to the final buzzer (or the monster slam by Admiral Schofield just seconds after time expired). Rinse. Spit. It’s a new week. And for one-seed purposes, a must win in the Pavillion against Ole Miss.

And the Cats got the victory.

It wasn’t always pretty (especially on the defensive end, woof) BUT, credit where credit is due: Keldon Johnson and Tyler Herro were excellent–even though I spent the entire Tennessee game screaming at Keldon for being a dumbass, and Calipari did the same with poor Tyler. However, Tuesday, after P.J. Washington was benched after two fouls with over 12 minutes to go in the first half, Tyler and Keldon stepped up, BIG TIME. Johnson was as aggressive and opportunistic on offense as I’ve seen all year. He finally looked like the lottery pick pundits project him as (finished with 22 points and 7 boards). And Herro caught fire, going 6-6 from the field for 13 points in the first half alone.

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After one half of play, Kermit Davis’ club led 39-38. Senior Rebel Gaurd Terence Davis did it all in half number one and ended up posting a 25-12 stat-line on his senior day–applaudable for a 6’3 guard. Behind great ball movement, Davis’ play, and a terrific effort on the glass, Ole Miss was in good shape to secure a marquee win and lock down a tournament bid for certain. But then came the second half…

The matchup was tight throughout the second stanza as well, especially in the early going, as the two squads traded buckets. At 56-53 with just over 13 minutes to go, Rebel faithful held their breath in dire hope of their school holding on against the 6th ranked Wildcats. A Keldon Johnson three and PJ Washington layup quickly flipped the script (58-56), and Kentucky held the lead for the remainder of the ball game.

After Keldon and Tyler devoured the suspect Rebel perimeter defense in the first half, recently-named Naismith Finalist P.J. Washington went to work in half number two. The sophomore forward (sporting a headband for the first time. Now that’s a tweak) handled the Ole Miss zone and poured in 13 points and a few nifty assists. As has been the case for most of SEC play, Washington was the go-to crunch-time scorer. And once again, Paul Jamaine Washington Jr. sealed the deal. He and the silky late-game free throws by Tyler Herro and Immanuel Quickly.

Cal’s kids needed this one–for SEC/NCAA Tournament seeding purposes, and overall team morale. Kentucky has absolutely asserted themselves as one of the prime title contenders, but after Saturday’s letdown, an encouraging performance was a must. The on-ball defense and switches by the big men (Nick Richards and E.J. Montgomery) still need improvement before the thick of March, but I’m nitpicking. The offense was spectacular (against extended perimeter pressure, which Kentucky mightily struggled with last week) and the defense was serviceable.

To quote Marcin Gortat, “Great ‘team’ victory.” Without old man Travis, the kiddos got the job done, and that’s all us crazy Kentucky fans could ask for.

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