Sunday, March 16, 2014

Kentucky 70 - 58 Georgia (SEC Tournament) (Atlanta) (No. 2,135)

Game two of the post-tweak era started with a bang, as the Cats hit eight of their first nine shots and quickly jumped out to a 17-7 lead.  But by the 11 minute mark, both Willie Cauley-Stein and James Young were sent to the bench with two fouls each, and much of the rest of the half consisted of Georgia going to the free throw line over and over.  For the game, Georgia shot 30 free throws, while the Cats shot only 18.  This was beyond ludicrous, as the Cats were clearly stronger and more athletic than Georgia.  It makes no sense that on Friday night, UK got 41 free throws (compared to only 24 for LSU), and then the next afternoon, the Cats get only 18 free throws (compared to 30 for a much less athletic Georgia team).  What has bothered me all year in the SEC is not that games are called one way, or another way, but that they seem to be called differently from night to night or week to week.  If the officials had ever been consistent this season, UK could have adjusted.  But you literally don't know from game to game whether this is a game where they're going to call touch fouls, or whether this is a game where you can hammer folks with no calls.

Kentucky is uniquely vulnerable to changes in the officiating, because the Cats get a very high percentage of their points at the line.  For the year, UK has gotten 26.8 percent of its points at the free throw line -- only 17 teams in D-1 get a higher percentage of their points on free throws.  So a huge part of the UK offense will vary from game to game depending on what the officials think.

The officiating also has a big impact on certain players, especially Cauley-Stein.  There have been seven SEC games -- including both the tournament games -- where Cauley-Stein got at least four fouls.  In six of those games, he played less than 20 minutes.  So UK has effectively lost WCS in almost one third of its SEC games this year.  That makes a big difference.

Fortunately, the Cats were not as flummoxed about the officiating as I was.  They kept picking away, and kept attacking the glass.  They dominated Georgia on the boards, collecting 36 rebounds to only 21 for the Dawgs.  The Cats also got good three-point shooting, going 9-16 from beyond the arc.  As a result, they eventually blew the game open (again) in the second half, and left their enormous crowd of fans in Atlanta very, very pleased.  The mood among UK fans over these last two days is the best I've seen it all year, in large part because the team is actually doing better than people expect.

Next up, of course, the Cats have to play Florida again.  This season reminds me of the 2012 season, where UK had an overwhelming team that had to play Florida three different times.  In the last week of the season, the Cats went to Florida and pounded the Gators 74-59.  A week later, in the semi-final of the SEC Tournament, Florida gave Kentucky fits, losing by only 74-71.  The Gators then entered the tournament as a 7 seed, and went on a run that carried them to within minutes of reaching the Final Four.  The Cats make a similar run?  Can they do even better, and pull off what would be a huge upset tomorrow afternoon.  I, for one, will tune in to find out.

14 comments:

  1. As a result of tonight's game, the Cats have moved up to 19 in Ken Pomeroy's rankings, and to 17 in the RPI.

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  2. South regional ... 1 Florida vs. 16 Albany or Mount Saint Mary's ... OK, that's obviously Albany and then Florida beating Albany ... No. 8 Colorado vs. No. 9 Pittsburgh ... Colorado beats Pitt, and Florida beats Colorado ...

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  3. 5 VCU beats 12 Stephen F. Austin ... 4 UCLA beats 13 Tulsa .. UCLA beats VCU, and then Florida--hey, did you hear none of their guys cares about playing in the NBA?--beats UCLA ...

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  4. 15 EKU UPSETS 2 Kansas ... 7 New Mexico beats 10 Stanford ... New Mexico beats EKU ...

    Honestly, though, EKU should be really proud for beating Kansas.

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  5. 3 Syracuse beats 14 Western Michigan ... 6 Ohio State beats 11 Dayton ... Ohio State upsets Syracuse ... Ohio State beats New Mexico ...

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  6. Ohio State beats Florida and goes to the Final Four.

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  7. West Regional ... 1 Arizona beats 16 Weber State ... 9 Oklahoma State beats 8 Gonzaga ... Oklahoma State UPSETS Arizona ... Huge, huge win for Travis Ford ...

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  8. 12 North Dakota State UPSETS 5 Oklahoma ... 4 San Diego State beats 12 New Mexico State ... S.D. State beats N.D. State ... 2 Wisconsin beats 15 American ... 7 Oregon beats 10 Brigham Young ... Wisconsin beats Oregon ... Wisconsin beats San Diego State ... wait I think I'm off kilter here ...

    3 Creighton beats 14 Southwestern Louisiana ... 6 Baylor beats 11 Nebraska ... Baylor beats Creighton ...

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  9. OK, right ... I did get off kilter ... Oklahoma State keeps the love alive against San Diego State, and then Wisconsin beats Baylor, and then Wisconsin beats Oklahoma State ... Wisconsin goes to the Final Four ...

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  10. Midwest Regional ... 1 Wichita State beats 16 Texas Southern, which will beat Cal Poly in the play-in ... 8 Kentucky beats 9 Kansas State ... Kentucky UPSETS Wichita State ... GO, CATS!

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  11. 5 Saint Louis beats 12 North Carolina State, which beats Xavier in the play-in ... 4 Louisville (that's ridiculous) ... the nc2A is freakiNG JIVE ... NC2A!!!!

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  12. Why are the NC2A selection-committee meetings closed?

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