Shortly after No. 13 Florida beat Georgia on Thursday to clinch a share of the SEC East division title, coach Billy Donovan warned his team about Kentucky’s 32-game home winning streak. “We’ve broken a lot of streaks this year,” Florida senior forward Alex Tyus said with a smile. “So we’d like to break some more.” Florida is coming into its matchup today at No. 22 Kentucky confident, even though the Wildcats have been dominant at home in John Calipari’s two seasons as coach. Under Calipari, Kentucky hasn’t lost at Rupp Arena.
Kentucky’s recurring road woes raise questions entering March
Watch enough Kentucky road games this season, and you’ll notice that the story arc typically follows a predictable formula. First the Wildcats express hope before the game that they’ll finally be able to prove they can win on the road. Then they make enough late-game blunders to keep a lesser-talented team within striking distance. And finally they miss a potential game-tying or game-winning shot at the buzzer, enabling the home crowd to celebrate at their expense.
Newly acquired Thunder’s Nazr Mohammed familiar with trades, success
Six years ago Thursday, Gregg Popovich traded for a starting center, made him a backup and gave him 18 minutes a game the rest of the season. The San Antonio Spurs went on to win the 2005 NBA title. Thursday, the Thunder traded for a starting (mostly) center, made him a backup and probably will give him about 18 minutes a game the rest of the season. Same guy. Nazr Mohammed. The Thunder acquired the 6-foot-10 Mohammed on Thursday from the Charlotte Bobcats.
Terrence Jones makes Dick Vitale’s All-Solid Gold team
Today Dick Vitale unveiled his crème de la crème, the best of the best in college basketball for the 2010-11 season. He acknowledges it was not easy picking five All-Solid Gold teams. There were definitely some good players who fell just short and there will be some debates. Terrence Jones made the 4th team. No other Kentucky players was mentioned.
Former Cat Chuck Hayes sets arena record for offensive rebounds
Antawn Jamison, J.J. Hickson, Ryan Hollins and Samardo Samuels played a total of 96 minutes Wednesday night and combined for nine rebounds. Chuck Hayes had that many offensive rebounds in the first quarter alone. It’s no wonder the Houston Rockets beat the Cavaliers, 124-119, at Quicken Loans Arena in the first game following the All-Star break. The Cavs were demolished on the glass 57-37. A big part of that was Hayes, whose 17 rebounds were a season high and whose 12 offensive rebounds were both a career high and an arena record.
Boxscore and Game Notes: Kentucky at Arkansas
Boxscore and Game Notes: Kentucky at Arkansas
Kentucky falls to Arkansas in overtime
Marcus Britt’s layup in the final minute of overtime lifted Arkansas to a 77-76 win over No. 22 Kentucky on Wednesday night. The Razorbacks trailed 76-75 in the extra period, and the Wildcats had possession. However, Jeff Peterson stole an errant Kentucky pass and found Britt at the other end of the court for the game-winning layup. Arkansas (17-9, 6-6 Southeastern Conference) improved to 1-3 in overtime this season and gave coach John Pelphrey his first win in four chances against his alma mater.
Terrence Jones named SEC Freshman of the Week
Kentucky’s Terrence Jones was named SEC Freshman of the Week after averaging 18.0 points, 11.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists in wins over Mississippi State and South Carolina. Jones recorded back-to-back double-doubles in helping lead the Cats to a 2-0 record on the week. He has tallied four double-doubles in last six games. Jones tied a career high with five assists against Mississippi State and with five offensive rebounds against South Carolina. His 10 defensive rebounds against Mississippi State was most since pulling down 15 against Notre Dame on Dec. 8.
Darius Miller lives the High Life from beyond the arc, scores career-high 22
You needed to have a thesaurus on hand during UK’s 90-59 shellacking of South Carolina to find as many synonyms as possible for the word “dominant.” Really, aside from some lulls in the Cats’ play in the second half thanks to the Gamecocks’ press and the inability to replicate a John Wall-like bounce pass for a dunk, the Cats didn’t do much wrong the entire game. One particularly dominant UK player was junior guard Darius Miller…
Deandre Liggins bounces back from sub-par game in bench role
Junior guard DeAndre Liggins was not in UK’s starting lineup for the first time this season; instead freshman guard Doron Lamb started in his place. According to UK head coach John Calipari, the change was simply about trying something new in the hope of finding more success. “It’s like I have done this with just about every guy on the team,” Calipari said.