When the SEC’s best team (by a long way) and the SEC’s worst team (by a longer way) face off, you assume that a beat down will be in order. UK did not disappoint in easily dispatching LSU 81-55.

The ‘Cats sputtered a bit at the start, struggling to score and falling behind 6-1. The rest of the half, though, UK outscored the Tigers 41-8, dominating in pretty much every way. DeMarcus Cousins led the charge, nearly going for his sixth consecutive double-double in 11 first half minutes with 15 points and 9 rebounds. Cousins finished with 19 and 13.

The Tigers had no answer on the interior for Cousins, and really no answers anywhere else either. UK stifled Trent Johnson’s offensively challenged bunch, allowing only six made field goals in 32 attempts, shooting over 53% themselves.

The Tigers attack centers on forward Tasmin Mitchell and Bo Spencer, two guys who no doubt are contenders for the Chris Rix Lifetime Achievement Award.  Mitchell is among the best players in the SEC, but he was shackled all game by Patrick Patterson, scoring just 10 points on 4-15 shooting.  Patrick Patterson has been a stellar defensive player throughout his time at Kentucky.  However, he’s taking it an all new level this year.  Against Vandy, he completely took Jeff Taylor, a versatile swing man, out of the action.  Today, it was a versatile forward who was victimized by him.   As much money as Patterson is making himself by expanding his offensive game, his defense something scouts have got to love.

On offense, Patterson was as involved as he has been since very early in the year. He was a go to guy in the post, getting multiple touches and converting a bunch on the way to 16 points.

Outside of Cousins and Patterson, it was a balanced effort by the ‘Cats. Eric Bledsoe and John Wall were relatively quiet, scoring 10 points and 6 points respectively. I don’t think, though, we need to be worried about John Wall being frustrated after this one. There was really no need for him to do anything but run the offense, because LSU was so overmatched.

However, Wall wasn’t completely quiet. He was a part of back to back to back plays by him, Cousins, and Bledsoe that are sure to be seen on SportsCenter tonight. Cuz started it by flying through the lane to gather a Patterson miss and put it in the basket all in one motion. Then, Cousins missed a short fadeaway that Bledsoe flushed home with two hands. Finally, John Wall was one on one in the open court with Bo Spencer. To get around him, Wall seamlessly put the ball behind his back and finished an easy layup.

I mentioned earlier that Bo Spencer is one of LSU’s go to guys. The fact that he is one of LSU’s top two offensive options is proof positive that the Bayou Bengals are terrible. If you look at the points column, you’ll notice that he scored 25 points, which looks pretty good. However, it took him 24 shots (12 from three point range) and 38 minutes to get there. Unfortunately for Spencer, that’s an above average shooting night for him. He’s hitting just over 33% on the year from the field. The ‘Cats played good defense on him, but were wise to allow him to shoot when he wanted to.

John Calipari got solid play out of his bench again today, led by Daniel Orton and DeAndre Liggins. Orton played 15 solid minutes scoring 5 points and grabbing 5 rebounds. In a trend that has developed in the past couple weeks, Orton played the majority of his minutes in the first half. I’m not sure of the reason, but Cal went with other options most of the second half.

I haven’t yet heard any post game comments from John Calipari, but I can guarantee you that he singles Liggins out for praise. Ever since coming back from his unspoken suspension, Liggins has been an Energizer Bunny on defense. He harrasses whomever he’s assigned to guard and attacks on the boards. In recent games though, Liggins has become a major factor on offense as well. He drives when the lane is there, doesn’t make mistakes, and has been money from deep. He had 7 points and 8 rebounds and played more minutes (18) than any of UK’s other wing options, even though Darnell Dodson has earned a starting job.

Boosted by DeAndre Liggins, UK most dominant aspect of this game may have been rebounding. UK seemed to grab every board, outrebounding the Tigers 53-31. In fact, LSU had just three more defensive rebounds (21) than UK had offensive (18).

UK was outscored 41-39 in the second half today, but I wouldn’t so much call this another one of UK’s patented letdowns. LSU never put together a sustained run even though they were much more effective. UK was in control the entire game and took care of business against a much weaker opponent.