Seven Point Win Against Houston, Will Ole Miss Be Losin'?

(Sheray Thomas gets some respect from Ramel Bradley. Thomas and Meeks led the surge off the bench combining for 13 pts and 16 rebounds.)

A 7-0 run instigated by a 3-point swing by freshman Jodie Meeks and ended with Morris at the line with 29 seconds left helped lift Kentucky past Houston earlier this week 77-70, and as again, Kentucky did what they could to hold on to their 7 point halftime lead for the W.

It was one of their worst shooting affairs of the season that had the Wildcats struggling from the three-point arc, shooting 39% FG. The foursome of guards Kentucky has [Bradley, Crawford, Jasper, Meeks] shot only 7-27 Tri's but came away with 41 of Kentucky's 77. Morris again reached double double honors with game-highs 10 FT's, 20 pts, 10 rebounds and added 4 blocks. Bobby Perry continues to struggle to shake off the funk he's in, but he isn't completely absent. Outside of his 0-4 three point attempts, he shot just 2-7, got to the line, was involved on the defensive boards and kept his turnovers to near maximum minimum (1). Maybe the big story is how three of Kentucky's starting leaders could only muster up 10 of 36 shooting, and how Kentucky's bench came to the rescue to hold off Houston in maybe an unexpected scoring affair. Kentucky dominated the boards and their 19-10 assist-to-turnover ratio might finally be solved. Their guard foursome [Crawford, Bradley, Jasper, Meeks] had 13 among them, and Morris even added 3 himself. And while freshman Jodie Meeks came off the bench to post 3-8 shooting, 8 pts, 9 rebounds, Meeks' stock is rising. His eight was nearly the difference in the score, but I tend to look at it another way. Since Morris is the fuel that runs this offense, just 13 pts from him instead of 20 and this game would have been tied. He would have still had his double-double too, so 20+ from him is practically demanded of him in games like this when the team is shooting under 40 percent. Morris is clearly the MVP of this team thus far.

The difference really was Kentucky's bench though. Houston only played 7, Kentucky went something like 11 deep outscoring them 16-3. The Wildcats started off hot then cooled off for a 7 point half-time lead before basically doing what they could to hold off a late Houston surge in the second half to protect that lead. Here's how the game started: shot by Perry - three by Bradley - three by Crawford - shot by Morris. Kentucky went on a 10-0 run to start the game in the first 2 and half minutes. Then the game was tied at 68 with 2:49 left before going on a 7-0 run to clinch the win fueled by Joe Crawford's D. Didn't I just recently ramble on about I'd love to see Kentucky put together two awesome half's in one outing? I know there's always something to improve on, but I do notice their defense playing better and the offense seems to have more of a purpose, and lately, they've turned around their turnover margin but we'll see how that all equates in SEC play starting today against Ole Miss.

A huge part in Kentucky's close victories and avoiding a few upsets this season is their defense. It has improved with each game, I'd say significantly better since Indiana. So while some guys aren't putting up huge scoring numbers, collectively their getting it done, and getting it done on the other side of the ball. But I give some credit to Houston which caught Kentucky on a bad shooting night (Bradley's been hot, but this game outside his 3-10 three point shots, he was just 1-3 otherwise). Really both teams shot horribly, but here's something cool to look at …

Houston's (f) Dion Dowell + (g) Robert McKiver + (g) Oliver Lafayette = 20 made [10-29 Tri's], 53 pts

(g) Joe Crawford + (g) Ramel Bradley + (f) Bobby Perry = 10 made [5-21 Tri's], 29 pts

OR
(c) Randolph Morris + (g) Ramel Bradley + (g) Derrick Jasper = 14 made [4-12 Tri's], 43 pts

And what perhaps might be the most interesting …

Houston's Robert McKiver + Oliver Lafayette = 35 pts
Ramel Bradley + Joe Crawford + Derrick Jasper = 33 pts

Add in Meeks' 8 and there's six of Kentucky's seven point win.

Of course you could say that since Houston only played seven, someone had to score.

Kentucky wasn't able to stop them though.

(-) Stayin' Steady

Randolph Morris: game-high *10-12 FTL, game-high *20 pts, game-high *10 rebounds, 4 blocks
Joe Crawford: 4-12, 10 pts, 4 assists, 2 steals
Ramel Bradley: 4-13 [3 Tri's], 11 pts, 7 rebounds, 2 assists
Derrick Jasper: 5-6 [1-2], 12 pts, 3 rebounds, game-high *6 assists

(↑) Risin'

(Jodie, “sneek the three”, Meeks. Once again, the freshman from Georgia snuck a three from the bench and is slowly joining Derrick Jasper as making a difference in their first year.)

Jodie Meeks: 3-8 [1-4], 8 pts, 9 rebounds

(↓) Fallin'

Bobby Perry: 2-11 [0-4], 4-4 FTL, 8 pts, 6 rebounds