UK/Tenn What You May Have Missed

Today was a day of hope for this years UK mens basketball team. I know the articles are already out about the "growth" and "development" of this team, and the "road woes" are over, but there are other factors that make this game the most important of the season.

The picture above sums up what this game means to all of us as BBN: PASSION. I have said all year that Deandre Liggins' hustle and defense needs to be contagious and spread to the rest of the team. This game, that happened. Today's game displayed an overall team effort that we have not seen all season. Even though only 7 guys saw minutes (Hood's were by default) every minute was a fight at the defensive end, which would eventually lead to offense. We all know this team can score, but today Deandre SHUT DOWN Scotty Hopson, and we saw Brandon Knight, Eloy Vargas, Josh Harrelson, Doron Lamb, and Terrence Jones all get on the floor. If you pay attention to the small things, not just the "bad offense" in the first half, you will notice what happened to that bad offense.

The defense in the first half was impressive, UK shot 24% from the field in the first half and we went into the locker room only down seven points. The halftime speech was obviously motivating, but the facial expressions by our players in the second half gave me goosebumps. EVERY Wildcat was hustling more than they have all season. All you could do was feel an amazing sense of security when the final buzzer sounded.

This game proved that the close games can be won by UK, and that it was almost inevitable that the close games would start going the Cats' way, and they most certainly are at the right time of the season. There was a will to win every 50/50 ball, players were smiling with that kind of "swagger" that teams get when they know they can win. What we take away from this game is this: this UK team looks that much more promising. You have to sit back and realize that this years team is the most offensively efficient them in 16 years as far as TOs, they shoot lights out almost every game from beyond the arc, and now we can win away from home. All of these factors make me think that this UK team can compete with anyone in the nation, and playing the best basketball of the season come tournament time is what you want.

Take what you want from this game, but to me it wasn't the bad offense or the great shooting in the second half. This game was a game won on the floor, and with heart. Two of our starters fouled out and our team held it together to finish off a very athletic Tennessee team. This game was the culmination of a team that has fought all year in close games, cometed, and now are winning the close games because of playing as a team and "getting it."

Bring on the SEC tourney, and thank goodness we got the 2 seed and that all of a sudden EVERY matchup in our bracket looks extremely winnable.

Go Cats, Go Heart and Teamwork