Ky Cat Stats

Hard to argue that this guy was effective in the Second Half.  

It was a game of two halves.

The first half, you saw how good UK can be.  We moved the ball.  Kyle shook defenders.  Nerlens blocked shots, and UK generally kicked butt.  Then towards the end of the half, things kind of came to a lull.

Then the Second Half started and UK got punched in the mouth and never recovered.  Slowly and steadily, the Tide crept back in the game, and finally took a lead the never relinquished.

It’s worth noting that UK was playing again without one of their starters, Willie Cauley-Stein.  Alabama thrived off of put backs in the Second Half and you have to wonder how the game would have been different if he had been there.

Archie continues to frustrate everyone.  Losing the ball going up for layups, missing put backs, getting blocked, things aren’t looking really great for him right now.  But I’ll say this; he’s not getting any help.  Most of the team is standing around, waiting for someone to make a play, and Archie is at least trying to make the play.  Hate on him all you want, and it’s fair to say he’s missed some open guys, but he’s trying to make a play, not trying to play hero or ball-hog.  There was no offensive rhythm in the Second Half, that hurt even worse than Archie.

Kentucky has struggled with two types of teams this year, small teams, and physical teams.  Alabama featured both, and it hurt UK again.

The Cats were led on the night by Kyle Wiltjer who scored 14, and Julius Mays who had 12.  Nerlens Noel continued his stellar play with 7 blocks on the game.

The KYCS player of the game is Nerlens Noel, who scored 8 points, had 13 rebounds and 7 blocks, and 1 steal on the game.

The Cats are back in action on Saturday when they welcome LSU to town.  Game tips at 4 pm.

Go Big Blue!