I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous about this game. If you look at it from the outside, this game had all the marks of an early season surprise upset, and I’m really not just saying that in a Lou Holtz pump up your opponent kind of way.

Think about it. UK was missing a player that they are building their offense around in John Wall. They are learning a new style of offense, integrating new players, and likely haven’t come to understand that they are not invincible quite yet.

Not only that, the opponent was a scary one. It was an in-state school making the trip to play against the team that gets all the attention on the biggest stage the state has to offer on national TV. Morehead is a veteran team with a very good coach.

Like I said, I was a bit scared.

Maybe last year the ‘Cats fail to hold serve against Morehead State. Not this time, though. UK is just too talented to lose a game like that, even though it was far from a spotless performance. UK quickly went up 17-7, and though the Eagles did manage to close within 5 late in the first half, the outcome was never really in doubt.

Patrick Patterson, after disappearing at times in UK’s two exhibitions, personally took control of the game. He nearly had a double-double by halftime, grabbing offensive rebounds and confidently stroking an open three from the top of the key.

Tonight’s first half delivered a clear message: when in doubt, UK is going to turn to Patrick Patterson.

John Calipari challenged Patrick Patterson to step his game up this week. Any UK fan who has watched Patterson the last 2 years could have guessed that he would respond, and respond he did.

The reason for doubt and the reason why UK needed Patterson to step up was the way that Donnie Tyndall and his Eagles defended. Morehead’s defensive approach is one that we as fans had better become accustomed to, because the ‘Cats are going to see it all season long.

Morehead, from the opening tip, packed the interior with about as tight a 2-3 zone as you will see. The more teams that try to defend UK this way over the early part of the season, the better, because UK HAS to learn how to get things done. The driving lanes were basically eliminated in the first half, and UK struggled to get any good shots as a result.

The ‘Cats spent a great deal of time passing the ball around the perimeter, waiting for a gap to open up. The Eagles rarely obliged. Granted, when John Wall returns, I’m not sure there’s any defense that can prevent his penetration, but the team as a whole must improve.

In the second half, UK found significantly more room to play with, mostly thanks to the play of Eric Bledsoe. Bledsoe scored only 2 points in the first half, mostly settling for long range half court looks…not his forte. In the second half, Bledsoe was a one man fast break.

He raced the ball down the floor at every opportunity, dicing holes in the Eagle defense, finishing at the rim, and finding teammates. UK’s star freshman guard was a stat stuffer, putting up 24 points (22 in the second half), 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and a steal. Unfortunately, he also stuffed the box score with turnovers (7), showing that there still are situations that his athleticism and skill cannot bail him out of.

No matter how UK’s season ends up, we can be assured of one thing: UK point guards are going to lead the world in top 10 plays. With Wall and Bledsoe’s fluid moves in the open court, passing ability, athleticism, and nose for highlight reel blocked shots, they are assured of becoming SportsCenter mainstays.

Outside of Bledsoe and Patterson, most of the players who saw the floor for the ‘Cats were frustrated by either their opponents or foul trouble. UK’s freshmen big men DeMarcus Cousins and Daniel Orton combined for as many fouls as rebounds (9), and only scored 11 points in 31 minutes.

One thing I am consistenly noticing from these two (especially Cousins) is that they look to draw the charge way too often. I know it’s always fun when the ref points your way on a charge call and the announcers praise you for a heady play, but these are two massive kids with seriously long arms. Challenge the shot without fouling. Even if you don’t block it, you’re going to affect it.

While Cousins and Orton were flummoxed by foul trouble tonight, it’s clear why they are both so highly touted. They possess a combination of size, skill, and savvy that you don’t often find. They are going to give Coach Cal some scary options out there.

On the wing, Coach Cal has a very intriguing and, I imagine, very maddening duo in Darnell Dodson and Darius Miller. On one hand you have a skilled slasher with a pretty outside shot and Ramel Bradley-esque confidence in his own ability. On the other hand, you have an even more skilled and smoother slasher with a serviceable outside shot who seems to be a little bit afraid of his own shadow at this point.

It is going to be very interesting to see how Calipari handles the two going forward. They are his two best options on the wing at this point, but come Monday against Miami (OH), only one will be getting the start. Does Cal opt for the better outside threat who will shoot it anywhere, anytime, or does Cal go for the better all around player who has a tendency to disappear from a game, especially when he is on the floor with two ball dominating point guards?

Defensively, the ‘Cats played full court pressure all game, which was a change from the Clarion game. Morehead is a smart, veteran team, but UK needs to be forcing more mistakes with consistent defensive effort. 12 turnovers is just not enough and John Calipari’s demeanor showed that.

The Eagles didn’t hit their shots to the tune of 4-24 from 3 point range and 38.5% overall, but John Calipari is not sold on the ‘Cats defense.

All in all, the Kentucky Wildcats beat a quality team tonight that will challenge for an NCAA berth, so we have to be happy with that. We also have to happy with the fact that UK, once again, has the kind talent to be a team like that when not even playing up to the coach’s standards.

By the way, how great is it to watch regular season Kentucky basketball again? Nothing better, other than regular season UK basketball WITH John Wall.

The Rotation

In his post-game comments, John Calipari said that UK had three starters in John Wall, Eric Bledsoe, and Patrick Patterson. The other two spots have yet to be earned, and the way Cal handled his rotation showed that.

Bledsoe and Patterson were each on the floor for at least 31 minutes, a rarity for a Calipari coached team. Bledsoe played all but 3 minutes tonight, mostly because UK didn’t have another good ball handling option. He won’t play that many minutes every game, but he’s going to be up around 30 all season, as will Wall. Also, very rarely will you see UK on the floor without Wall or Bledsoe.

At the 2 and 3 spots, Darius Miller and Darnell Dodson both were on the floor for at least 30 minutes. Neither played well, so the fact that they played so many minutes and Jon Hood didn’t even take off his warmups shows that the are the guys. Cal’s comment that only 3 starters are set shows that he doesn’t know which one he likes better yet.

As the season goes along, I think there will be about 60 minutes to be distributed among Miller, Dodson, and Ramon Harris (40 minutes at the 3 and 20 more minutes at the 2 when Wall or Bledsoe is resting), and who plays well will determine who gets the lion share. It will be very telling on Monday when we see whose minutes get cut when John Wall returns.

The other main battle to watch is on the interior. Daniel Orton and DeMarcus Cousins had their moments tonight, but they were punctuated by fouls and Kenneth Faried dunks. Calipari left the door open for a Daniel Orton start on Monday with his post-game comments, which I wouldn’t mind because I am a huge Orton fan. He does all the little things and fits seamlessly into the team concept. He’s not going to put up huge numbers at this point in his career, but is much better suited at this point to be a complementary player than DeMarcus Cousins, although Cousins is more capable of having a big night.

Perry Stevenson also has supplanted Josh Harrellson in the rotation altogether as Patrick Patterson’s backup, but Cal said he took a step backward tonight with his play.