Stuff'n It Like It's Hot - A Maui Invitational Look

Perry "Stuff It Like It's Hot" Stevenson. The Freshman recorded 7 stuffs last night against Miami (OH). In his last three games played he's stuffed 15 balls.

The ’Cat's survived a potential upset last night with an 11-point victory over Miami (OH). Joe Crawford led with 18, and Randolph Morris records his first DD of the season with 10 grabs, 12 pts. This just may be a case of first game jitters since the games begin to count. Crawford was able to get to the line for eight FTA, which is what you like to see. The thirty minute guys were Crawford, Bradley, and Stevenson who started down low with Bobby Perry. Freshmen Meeks, Jasper, and Porter saw action from the bench - Meeks having the better game among them with 7 pts, 4 grabs, ast, 2 steals and 24 min.

But how bout the freshman from Lafayette. I mentioned in the two exhibition games he recorded 8 stuffs; last night the kid was like Stove Top providing an ‘Alleyne’ type defensive presence to help them pull out the win playing 35 minutes with 2 pts, 6 grabs, and 7 stuffs. He just might earn one of my weekly Game Blog Nominees next week where each month I'll hand out a Monthly Game Blog Award to one of Kentucky's best performing player from all my weekly nominees. Randolph Morris seems impressed by the freshman …

“The stats speak for themselves. He has great athleticism and a unique ability to block shots. He played 35 minutes tonight, and that says a lot for a freshman. It shows that Coach (Smith) has a lot of confidence in him to keep him on the floor for most of the game.”

So I hope the jitters are out, some of the new kids saw some action last night, and they begin 1-0 with the Maui Invititational coming up next week.

Maui Invitational - Nov. 20-22

Top Bracket

Oklahoma
13Memphis

Purdue
23Georgia Tech

Bottom Bracket

DePaul
22Kentucky

Chaminade
6UCLA

Next week Kentucky has a shot at strengthening their schedule with a potential second-round matchup with six-ranked UCLA. A week and a half later they get the second-ranked Tar Heels in Chapel Hill. Memphis and Georgia Tech are also nationally ranked in this tourny.

Rankings:
⊗ AP Poll
⊗ USA Today/ESPN Coaches Top 25 Poll