Kentucky 75 - 66 Mississippi (Final) (SEC Tournament) (No. 2,046)

I'm sure some people were frustrated that UK almost blew a 12-point lead in the second half. But I thought that the final score accurately reflected the balance between the two teams. It is important to understand that unlike last year -- when UK had incredible physical specimens like Wall and Cousins -- this years' team is often going up against guys who are bigger, quicker, and stronger than they are. We don't win by overwhelming teams -- we win (if we win) by executing basketball plays better than the other guys. Time and again, when UK faced serious trouble, they were able to score out of their half-court offense. They did not shoot particularly well (4-16 from 3's and 15-23 from the line), but they still managed to score 75 points -- mainly because they made 24-43 two-point shots.

Jones did not have a very good game (only 7 points and 7 rebounds), mainly because he spent much of the game in foul trouble. But everyone else played well. Lamb (19 points), Miller (15 points), and Harrellson (13 points) all stood out. I also want to give credit to Knight. He was 0-6 from 3-point range and only 5-15 from the field, but he still scored 17 points (7-10 from the line), and he did a great job of dealing with all the ball pressure that had given him so much trouble down at Oxford.

Kentucky was fortunate, I thought, that Ole Miss made only 8-30 three's -- including a lot of open looks I thought they would make. But we were probably due some luck.

This is not a team that can win the national championship. And they won't have any more easy games. All we can hope is that they keep surviving and advancing. Today they did.