Trifecta's Are Fine, But Look Who Reached The Free Throw Line

Miss St. 60 Kentucky 64

(Bradley Got Game - just gotta do somethin' with the ball at the end of each half don't ya?)

So the Bulldogs came into Rupp and gave the Wildcats a scare. So what. Right? Didn't Alabama lose a game? Hey didn't the Dukies suffer back to back conference losses? Didn't Ohio St. just almost lose a game against the Volunteers? Didn't North Carolina lose? So Kentucky won a close game at home against another non-ranker, but at least they're continuing to win and have one of the nation's longest winning streaks going this season. It's not all that bad.

Come Madness, winning is all that matters, and pulling out close games against a team you should win usually happens at least once for a team the further you advance in the NCAA's, so this is good experience I say. Hey, don't forget that Clark Kellog named Kentucky one of the five most dangerous non-ranked teams in the nation - I'd rather see Kentucky non-ranked all year because then when they win in March for respect I love to see the flip floppers jump the bandwagon and become Kentucky experts in a matter of seconds. It's just funny to watch, but Kentucky does have a long way to go. They still have to beat Florida, Tennessee, and Alabama. At least split with Florida and Tennessee and then re-take the SEC tourney. The way the Cat's are playing now - finding ways to win on nights they struggle and with an emerging back-court on the rise, Kentucky has set themselves up for what potentially could be a storybook season. Tubby did this sort of thing with a young team back in 04 when they reached the Elite Eight against MSU. I think we all remember that. If it wasn't for a Rondo freshman bobble turnover in OT, the Cats could of had a chance to end the game in the first OT to reach the Final Four. So Tubby has done well with inexperience, but the inexperience Kentucky has on the team this year is far more better off than they were two - three years ago. So what Kentucky almost lost to Miss. St., they won didn't they?

Maybe Kentucky was caught celebrating their new state-of-the-art Joe Craft Center the Thursday before and came out a bit flat. Kentucky shot one of their worst shooting affairs of the season, 36%. However, Kentucky still managed to hold their opponent under 40%. Jamont Gordon led the Bulldogs with his near double-double and four other guys [Rhodes, Delk, Stewart, Hansbrough] were two points or less from double figures. Stewart and Hansbrough managed 6-11 Threes together which might have been how they were able to stick around seeing how they couldn't get to the free throw line like Kentucky did.

And really if you ask what hurt Miss. St., you could say it was their free throws. Just three attempts.

Kentucky was 15-19 - including Bradley's clutch 3-4 down the stretch to help continue the winning streak. Not to take away from Morris' block at the end that could of tied the game because that was a clutch moment for the newly revived center for Kentucky which led to Bradley's last two free throws, but even Bradley's 1-2 at the line that gave them a 2 pt lead forced the Bulldogs to either go for a jumper (and maybe a foul) or look for the trifecta that they've been hitting all night and shock the Rupp crowd. They chose a jumper which was blocked and Bradley made his last two free throws, (but being up 61-60 with two shots at the line with 10 secs left in the game, Bradley has got to make both those shots in that situation as the season moves on).

Bradley's trey at the end of the first half gave Kentucky a 1 point lead, and his 3 of 4 free throws at the end of the second helped them win by 4. He finished with 11 on 3-10 shooting and 6 rebounds and game-high 37 min.

It wasn't until late in the game when Morris surpassed Crawford for the game-high 17 pts. Morris was clutch, shot 5-12, 7-8 at the line, assist, 3 blocks, and 2 steals. He didn't reach a double - double, but he did make the game-defining play at the end.

Joe Crawford led Kentucky in points for most the game, he shot 5-12, including three Tri's, for 14 pts in 33 minutes, and Jasper was held manageably to 8 pts and 8 grabs, but what he brought was the ability to drive and draw the foul also, he shot 4-5 at the line, and he does this so consistently. He also recorded 3 assists, block, and 4 steals, so Jasper wasn't completely shut down when Crawford and Bradley were putting up more points.

(Jasper: 8 pts, 8 grabs, 4 of 5 from the line, 4 assists, 3 steals, and block in providing a solid game along with Bradley and Crawford.)

Trio Watch, Bradley, Crawford, Jasper

Combined for 10-26 [5 Tri's] for 33 pts, 8 assists, 5 steals, and 5 TOs

· Similar to the Indiana game when they won by only 5, it was Kentucky's closest margin of victory since then.
· 10-0 now with this trio in the starting lineup
· Their 5 turnovers are the lowest since having only 4 among them against Houston; also is half of what they committed in their last game · Second straight game they've combined for 5+ steals
· Through 10 games they're averaging 11-24, 34.7 pts, 47% FG, 10 assists, 3.9 steals, 7 TOs per game
· 7 of the 10 games, the starting trio have combined for 33+ points, (21 pts being the lowest they've combined for)