Kentucky Cruises Past Cleveland State in Cancun, 73-49

They say that every win is a pretty win, but I’m not sure if they still say that after UK’s 73-49 defeat of Cleveland State. In fact, that may have been the most illegitimate game in program history

The unbelievably bad floor and awful ball room court lighting obliterated basically any chance of an enjoyable game, and whatever chance was left was eliminated by the Vikings overly physical defense. Add to that the fact that TV coverage was handled by a station that 99.9% of Big Blue Nation didn’t know existed before today and that they broadcast in what apparently was the opposite of HD. Seriously, my parents have home videos of me playing rec league ball that were filmed better than that game. Oh yeah, and who plays a game at 4:30 pm on a Tuesday?

Thanks Billy G for scheduling this little gem. The bar next the floor was a fitting memorial for your UK tenure.

Even though the ‘Cats faced likely the most physical defense they will play all season on a floor better fitting a middle school team, they picked up a win against a team that played in and won a game in the NCAA Tournament. It may have been ugly, but it was still a good win.

Cleveland State hung tough in the first half, only trailing by 8 because of a long three pointer to close the half by Josh Harrellson. The Vikings caught the ‘Cats off guard by applying consistent half court pressure well outside the three point line, something no UK opponent has done all year. The Vikings even mixed in a bit of a triangle and two look.

UK, at first, did not respond to Cleveland State’s physicality. They were badly outhustled over the first half, particularly on the boards.

I have commented before that the most positive sign of this early season is the reponsiveness of the team to John Calipari. The same thing happened today after halftime. After being outhustled in the first half, UK absolutely smoked Cleveland State on boards. They really seemed like they got every single one. The end result was a 44-24 rebounding edge.

There were certainly a lot of defensive rebounds for the ‘Cats to get. Cleveland State shot 26.6% on 17-64 shooting and while Cleveland State missed some shots, I was pretty happy with the way that UK defended.

There will be some concern over UK’s 21 turnovers, 9 of which were by John Wall and Eric Bledsoe, which is valid and understandable, but I think this game and the opponent qualify as mitigating circumstances. Cleveland State was out to make it a sloppy game – they succeeded.

They fouled continuously (25 times) and sent UK to the line repeatedly. UK didn’t start out shooting well from the stripe, but they did get better. 24-35 still isn’t quite good enough. By the way, what’s going on with Patrick Patterson at the line? After threatening 80% last season and his freshman year, he’s stuck at 50% so far this season. I’m not really worried by any means, but I am watching.

Amazingly, John Wall still managed to get his numbers (15 points 7 assists), even though Cleveland State’s physicality eliminated most of his highlight plays. His knack for getting to the line is going to keep his scoring average up near 20 all year long.

Unfortunately, the two most memorable things about today’s game might be things we don’t want to remember.

Patrick Patterson started hobbling a few minutes into the second half and Perry Stevenson stepped in to play for him. Ankles have been his problem his first two years at UK, so hopefully this injury will be one he can heal quickly from. My guess is that he will take a seat during tomorrow’s championship game to get better and not play on that floor. We will obviously update you on his status.

The other memorable unmemorable thing about today’s game was the DeMarcus Cousins scuffle. The big man who was guarding Cousins gave him a shove, then Cousins sized him up, and caught him with a vicious elbow. Cousins came out right away, but the refs reviewed the play and gave him a flagrant foul. Fortunately, Cleveland State missed both free throws. The Kentucky fans that made the trip didn’t exactly look like the classiest bunch, and one kid had this response to the free throw misses:

If you’re expecting to see my look at the UK rotation, I’m going to hold off until after both games are played since we have 2 in 2 days. Look for Nick’s breakdown of tomorrow’s game sometime tomorrow.