A Bone-Crushing Win For Vols Over Kentucky

Will the real Kentucky Wildcats please rise?

Two weeks ago, No. 4 ranked Kentucky battled like Marines in a convincing 86-69 win over, then No. 1 ranked, Tennessee Volunteers and looked like a national championship contender. In a rematch on Saturday, Tennessee Volunteered the Wildcats for the Peace Corps and rolled to a 71-52 victory.

“They were the aggressor and we weren’t,” said Kentucky Coach John Calipari afterward, stating the obvious. “Down in our place, we were the aggressor and they weren’t.”

In the win at Kentucky, the Wildcats’ man-to-man defense was ultra-physical (more than any I’ve seen all season) and had the Vols on their heels the entire game. This definitely wasn’t the case in the second meeting, as Tennessee point guard, Jordan Bone (among others) had his way from start to finish while scoring a game-high 27 points. When you make 11 of 15 shots from the field and all five of your three-point attempts, you’re not exactly confronting a strong resistance.

Playing without starting power forward Reid Travis, a fifth-year senior transfer from Stanford, Kentucky looked like it was masquerading as the same team. When the teams met in Kentucky, Travis made life miserable for the Vols’ star Grant Williams, sending him to the floor countless times. Travis had as many knockdowns as an NFL pass rusher on a good day’s work.

With Travis sidelined with a sprained knee, Williams had plenty of breathing room, scoring inside and outside on his way to 24 points. And while Williams was benefitting from Travis’ absence, it looked like Kentucky’s star forward PJ Washington was suffering. Washington is a finesse big man with outstanding offensive skills, and against the Vols on Saturday, it looked like he could have used his bodyguard Travis. Washington was clearly the best player on the floor in the first meeting, scoring a game-high 23 points. Without Travis at his side, Washington scored just 13 in the rematch. Tennessee won the points in the paint battle, 28-10.

The game’s turning point came at the 12-minute mark in the first half when Washington picked up his second foul with his team trailing, 19-18. Calipari opted to sit Washington the rest of the half and Tennessee closed with an 18-6 run for a 37-24 halftime lead. The Wildcats would come no closer than 13 in the second half.

With Kentucky’s apparent lack of energy from the outset, I thought it was a big mistake for Calipari to sit his star Washington down the final 12 minutes of the first half. Certainly, Calipari should have taken Washington out of the game with two fouls, but when Tennessee was on its big run, he should have put him back into the game to try to stop the bleeding before it was too late.

So now Kentucky, which was making a late-season run at a No. 1 seed in the NCAA’s, must finish strong to even gain a No. 2 seed. The young and gifted Wildcats are talented enough to make a deep run in the NCAA’s but not without Travis, who is expected to return soon. With all of Kentucky’s key players either freshmen or sophomores, the Wildcats need Travis’ experience to balance out the equation.

Meanwhile, Tennessee is definitely a legitimate national championship contender. Some were doubting the Vols (who slipped to No. 7 in the national rankings) when they got pounded by Kentucky and lost a close one at LSU, but seriously, those are really good teams! The 26-3 Vols can still claim a No. 1 seed with a strong finish. This is an experienced Tennessee team that plays well together, as evidenced by its 19.2 assists per game, fourth best in the country. With three All-SEC caliber players, Williams, Bone and Admiral Schofield, in the starting lineup, Tennessee has as much firepower as anybody in the country.

Overtime Coach-Couch Talk:

Tennessee isn’t the only team that has its doubters that shouldn’t be counted out come March Madness. Kansas, which lost star big man Udoka Azubuike to a season-ending injury in early January, is a team with talent and tradition on its side.

The No. 15 ranked Jayhawks were impressive in a 64-49 home win over rival and Big 12 leading Kansas State. Ever since the beginning of the season, I’ve been a full-fledged member of the Dedric Lawson fan club and the Jayhawks’ star didn’t disappoint me in this game. Lawson led the way with 18 points and 14 rebounds. The 6-9 forward has a great feel for the game, and if he shot the 3 a little better to go with his great inside game, he would be a First Team All-American in my book. Not that Lawson is shooting poorly; he is making 36 percent of his 3-point attempts. But he’s taking only a little over two attempts per game. If Lawson could find the confidence to double his attempts and make the same percentage, Kansas would be a tough out in the NCAA’s.

Meanwhile, Kansas State is looking to hold on for its first regular season Big 12 title since 2013 when it shared the top spot with Kansas. It was the first time I’ve seen the Wildcats and it wasn’t their best effort. All season long, I’ve been mentioning underrated coaches and Kansas State’s Bruce Weber would definitely belong on that list. His Wildcats play strong defense and are patient on the offensive end and take good shots. Senior guard Barry Brown is the key for Kansas State on both ends of the floor, as he is one of the best all-around players in the country. He’s leading Kansas State in scoring at 15 points per game and is one of the nation’s most rugged defenders.

I still have some other AP Top 25’s to watch for the first time. In the tough Big 10, I have not seen No. 14 Purdue and No. 19 Wisconsin. No. 23 Cincinnati is now back in the Top 25, and I will watch the Bearcats for the first time against No. 8 Houston next Sunday. And wooo, Wofford has made its way into the Top 25 at No. 24! Might have to turn to ESPN 8, The Ocho, featured in Dodgeball to see Wofford on TV.

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