Post UK-LSU Thoughts

That one hurt. A win over now conference champion LSU would have made things a lot more comfortable for UK’s Tourney hopes, but instead, UK fell 73-70 on a Tasmin Mitchell three pointer with just under 10 seconds left. UK had a chance to tie it, but Jodie Meeks contested deep ball from the top of the key fell short and right, not even grazing the rim.

I will say this, though, the second half of that game was the highest quality basketball I have seen in a UK game all season. LSU came out of a very sloppy first half with a 36-28 lead, and the only reason UK was that close was because of very inspired play from Patrick Patterson. I’m not sure what happened in the UK locker room, but they looked like a different team after the intermission. Not only did they play much more inspired basketball, but Billy Gillispie also apparently came to the realization that UK is not going to be much of team with Michael Porter running the point.

The rotation was cut down severely in the second half. UK played with the core lineup of Kevin Galloway at the point, Jodie Meeks at the 2, Ramon Harris and Darius Miller both playing 3.5’s if you will, and Patrick Patterson anchoring things in the middle. The only other two players to play were Perry Stevenson (9 minutes) and AJ Stewart (3 minutes, and was subject to no discipline following his situation this week.

Kentucky not only made these lineup adjustments, but also installed some new sets that did wonders in terms of freeing Patterson and Meeks. Kentucky has had Patterson screen for Meeks a lot this season, but for the first time, Jodie returned the favor to a large extent by freeing Patrick from his man with good screens while Patterson cut hard to the basket. UK also played an isolation game for Jodie Meeks with four low on a few occasions, which was a welcome sight.

This lineup also played pretty solid defense throughout the second half and held LSU to only 4 offensive rebounds. UK did a solid second half job on Tasmin Mitchell (except for AJ Stewart’s defensive lapse that led to the winner), allowing him to score only 7 after scoring 14 in the first half. The big defensive issue was Marcus Thornton, who scored only 4 first half points, but went off for 19 in the second half. The guy is a phenomenal player, and there really was not much that could be done about him. It came down to who could make the big plays between Thornton and Jodie Meeks, and Thornton made crucial play after crucial play, and Jodie Meeks could not answer him in the final two minutes.

Jodie did a good job the whole game of finding ways to score, because for second consecutive game at Rupp, he just did not have the range. He scored 24 points, but only shot 1-9 from three (UK as a team shot only 3-14 while LSU shot 9-20…this was a big determining factor). Jodie did force things at times (5 turnovers and a couple shots blocked), but he did contribute on the boards (5 rebounds) and passing (4 assists). Regardless, I think that what Jodie will remember is that he did not produce down the stretch. He missed the front end of a key one and one right after the under four TV timeout that would have stretched UK’s lead to three. He missed a good look from three that would have tied the game with just over a minute left. He missed the final tying attempt at the end.

Instead, it was Darius Miller who hit the shot that looked like it might send UK into OT. After Kevin Galloway missed his second free throw with 34 seconds left, Patrick Patterson tracked down the carom for only his second rebound of the first half and Darius Miller hit an open look. Darius showed no hesitation in knocking the shot down, and I am very pleased with his response after a tough game in Columbia.

Darius Miller was a big part of what UK did after the break, and I will say that UK’s play in the second half was very encouraging. LSU is the best team in the SEC and they played a very good game. UK went blow for blow with them until Tasmin Mitchell hit the winner. Give the guys credit for showing up in the second half, and if they play that way the rest of the season, who knows what could happen. UK is probably on the outside of the NCAA picture looking in right now, but they can still right that ship. I’ll get into that in detail tomorrow in my SEC breakdown.

As encouraging as the second half was (until the last two minutes), I think the question on every UK fan’s mind right now is “why did it take so long”? It’s a coach’s responsibility to put his players in the best possible position to win, and after that, it’s in the players hands. The way UK played in the second half makes me wonder if Billy Gillispie believes he has put his guys in the best possible position to succeed.

What convinced him to play Porter zero minutes after playing him 17 in the first half? Why did it take so long to put Darius Miller and Kevin Galloway on the floor with Meeks and Patterson for an extended stretch? Is this change a permanent one? Most of all, what on earth happened in that locker room?

I have had enough of rehashing that painful loss, and there will be plenty of time to talk about what UK needs to do to extend its NCAA Tournament streak to 18 (and I really, really want that), so let’s get to the grades:

Turnovers/Point guard play: B- (last game F)

Kevin Galloway handled things for the majority of the second half (Jodie and Darius handled it the rest of the time), and it was no coincidence that UK’s point guard play was 100% better than when Michael Porter handled things. Galloway didn’t put up big numbers, but he did not turn the ball over one time and he put everybody in the right spots (UK had 10 first half turnover, and 5 after that). I think this is what Gillispie wants out of his “lead guard”, and he better play the majority of the next game or I will not be pleased.

Key Stat-Assist to turnover ratio: 18:15 (3:2 for Porter, Liggins, and Galloway) (last game 11:20 and 7:8 for Porter and Liggins)

Rebounding: B+ (last game C-)

It was pointed out in the Pinkie’s preview that LSU is a very good offensive rebounding team, so the fact that UK held LSU to only 9 offensive rebounds was a major win. Overall, UK outrebounded a very athletic team 32-29, which is good. Unfortunately, UK reverted to old habits when they didn’t put a body on Marcus Thornton with 1:49 left. Thornton dove between to ‘Cats, put his follow up and in, got fouled, hit the foul shot, and LSU never trailed after that.

Key Stat-Defensive rebounding percentage (defensive rebounds/opponent FG missed + opponent FT missed x100): (24/32+2)x100=70.6% (last game 59.5%) (last game 40.0%)

Getting the ball to Patterson: A (last game B)

Patterson scored 28 points on 12-17 shooting. He got the ball in good spots and was not often doubled by LSU, which he feasted on. UK also threw the ball around the rim for him to go grab, which was good to see.

Key Stat-FGA+FTA-offensive rebounds by Patterson: 17+6-3=20 (last game 28)

Secondary scoring: C- (last game D)

Just like Wednesday night, only three guys besides Patterson and Meeks scored tonight: Perry Stevenson (7), Kevin Galloway (3), and Darius Miller (8). Perry did nearly all of his damage in the first half, nearly disappearing after the first few minutes. Galloway only hit three free throws. Darius was the only guy who really stepped up. His shyness shooting the ball is gone, even when it matters most. Unfortunately, one guy was not enough today.

Key Stat-Percentage of points scored by Meeks and Patterson: 28+24/70=74.3% (last game 71.2%)