Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Cats are Number 20 in the AP Poll

 Number 20 has not been very lucky for UK in the past.  The Cats are just 16-11 when ranked number 20, and have won only 6 of 15 games in that slot since the beginning of the 2006-07 season.  UK's best win at number 20 was probably on December 13, 1960, when they upset the number-5 UNC Tar Heels in Greensboro, N.C. by the score of 70-65.  My favorite win at number 20 was on March 6, 2011, when the Cats went to Tennessee and won 64-58, thus setting off a chain of events that led to UK's first Final Four appearance since 1998.

70 comments:

  1. Of course everyone knows by now that U of L could not make tonight's game with Kentucky, and so the Cats will be playing Western Kentucky University instead. If it were up to me, UK would drop U of L altogether and play home-and-home with Western anyway, so this outcome makes me happy.

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  2. This will only be the seventh meeting between UK and Western. Western beat UK in the 1971 NCAA Tournament. UK eliminated Western from the NCAA's in 1986 and 2012. Pitino gave Ralph Willard (who then coached Western) two games in the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons: The Cats won 84-70 in Louisville on 12/21/1990. Then UK won in Lexington 93-83 on February 15, 1992. Western came back to UK on November 15, 2001 to open the 2001-02 season, and beat the Cats 64-52. That was a great Western team -- it went 28-3 and got a 9 seed in the NCAA's, where it lost to Stanford.

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  3. So the Cats lead the series 4-2, and this will be their first meeting since the 2012 Tournament.

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  4. And, yes, UK has still never played Murray State.

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  5. K-Pom has the Cats winning this game 79-65. Anthony Davis and one of the best teams UK (or the nation) ever had beat Western 81-66 in the NCAA Tournament, and that's UK's biggest margin of victory. And Western's on a roll: On December 11 they beat Ole Miss 71-48, and on Saturday they drilled Louisville 81-71. So I will be surprised if the Cats win by 14 tonight.

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  6. This may be the first time since the 1982-83 season that UK hasn't played U of L in the regular season. Here's what the non-conference schedule looked like back then (notice that the season didn't start until after Thanksgiving):

    11/27/1982: (3) Kentucky 90 - 53 Butler
    12/01/1982: Notre Dame 45 - 58 (3) Kentucky
    12/04/1982: (3) Kentucky 93 - 79 (4) Villanova
    12/07/1982: (2) Kentucky 83 - 46 Detroit
    12/11/1982: (2) Kentucky 76 - 57 Illinois
    12/17/1982: (2) Kentucky 55 - 42 Duquesne (UKIT)
    12/18/1982: (2) Kentucky 80 - 61 Tulane (UKIT)
    12/22/1982: (5) Indiana 62 - 59 (2) Kentucky
    12/29/1982: (3) Kentucky 83 - 62 Kansas (at Louisville)

    I miss that annual game at Freedom Hall. I do not miss playing Indiana.

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  7. That team was snake-bit. They had lost to MTSU in the tournament the year before, and so I never believed in them, and of course they lost at Indiana, which always annoyed me. They also lost their last game of the regular season (at LSU), and lost 69-64 to Alabama in the first round of the SEC Tournament. So I had a very low opinion of them going into the NCAA's. Then they whacked Ohio 57-40 and upset Number-5 Indiana 64-59 to set up an Elite Eight meeting with U of L. I thought they'd get crushed, but instead they lost in overtime, and the rest is history.

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  8. In retrospect, the 1982-83 season was probably the best one in the history of NCAA basketball, and I'm glad the UK were good enough to reach the Elite Eight that year.

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  9. Meanwhile, Murray State has gone to Auburn for a big game that tips off at the same time as the UK-Western game. Ken Pom has Auburn winning 79-66.

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  10. The biggest game of the night is in Knoxville, where the Vols will be taking on an undefeated Arizona team. Wait until the Arizona guys see the officiating in Knoxville. Kansas went in there last year and lost by 19 points.

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  11. Here's how Ken Pom has the top of the SEC right now:

    9. Tennessee (8-2)
    10. LSU (11-0)
    12. Auburn (10-1)
    13. Kentucky (8-2)
    21. Alabama (9-3)
    30. Florida (9-3)
    39. Mississippi St. (9-3)
    41. Arkansas (10-2)

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  12. Western is 8-4, and Ken Pom has them ranked number-100 in the country. He also reports that from 1997 to 2020, Western's program was ranked number-105 in the country. So this team is what we would normally expect from the Tops.

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  13. It should be noted that so far this year, Western has beaten Louisville and Murray has beaten Memphis.

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  14. That reminds me that we haven't done the Metro-7 standings in a while. Here's what they look like:

    23. Virginia Tech (8-4)
    31. Memphis (6-4)
    38. Florida St. (6-4)
    52. Louisville (7-4)
    74. Cincinnati (10-3)
    80. Saint Louis (8-4)
    162. Tulane (3-6)

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  15. Like UNC, Western has come out in black uniforms. Like UNC, that's a mistake.

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  16. UK leads 8-5 with 15:39 left in the first half. Western plays a 2-3 zone, and they've got a big guy who loves to stay near the basket and block shots. So the Cats are going to shoot a bunch of those 15-foot jumpers that they like so much. So far, they've made four of them.

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  17. K-Pom's rating of 100 for Western looks exactly right so far. That would be equal to a team that would win 5 or 6 games in the SEC, and that's what Western looks like. In fact, with the black uniforms, it feels like we're playing Georgia or South Carolina.

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  18. And Western plays like an SEC team -- which makes sense, given that Rick Stansbury coached Mississippi State for years. They have a lot of energy, and they're throwing themselves all over the floor.

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  19. Cats lead 15-7 with 11:57 left in the first half. So far, Cal is giving a lesson to the UK fans who complain about how he never uses a zone. The Cats are getting open looks all over the floor, and they do love to take little jump shots, so they've been very comfortable up to this point.

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  20. Western's big guy is named Jamarion Sharp, and he's 7 feet 5 inches tall. He's kept UK from the rim, but the Cats are shooting over him.

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  21. Western has stablized, and is having more success on offense. But the Cats continue to keep pace, and UK leads 29-17 with 6:49 left in the first half. Washington has 9 points, Grady has 8, and Tshiebwe has 6.

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  22. Western switched to a man-to-man, which is pretty effective since Sharp already has six blocks, but Grady is hot. He makes back-to-back threes to put UK up 35-19 with 4:35 left. Western calls time.

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  23. Grady misses the front end of a one-and-one and Western gets a layup at the other end. UK leads 35-21 with 3:39 left in the first half. Wheeler has been on the bench with two fouls for most of the last five minutes.

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  24. Sharp has 6 points, 6 blocks, and 3 rebounds. Tshiebwe has 6 points and 11 rebounds. Grady has 14 points. Washington has 9.

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  25. UK gets sloppy, Western hits its first 3 of the game, and UK's lead is down to 35-26. Tops on a 7-0 run. Calipari calls time with 2:37 left.

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  26. Lots of defense in the last 2 1/2 minutes, and UK leads 37-28 at the half. Auburn leads Murray 37-27 at the half.

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  27. Sharp just wreaks havoc around the basket. He's really quick on his feet, and UK only drew one foul against him in the whole half. He has 8 points, 6 blocks, and 6 rebounds, and he means that UK really can't do much within ten feet of the goal.

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  28. Having Wheeler in foul trouble really messed up UK's offense. In fact, Cal put him back in the game when the score got to 35-26, even though he had two fouls. Tshiebwe has 8 points and 11 rebounds, but he's 4-9 from the field, which is a tribute to Sharp.

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  29. If Sharp can stay out of foul trouble in conference play -- which will not be easy -- the Tops will be a load in the C-USA. Here's Ken Pom's top five teams in the C-USA:

    51. Ala-Birmingham (9-3)
    85. Louisiana Tech (8-3)
    94. N. Texas (7-3)
    100. W. Kentucky (8-4)
    148. Marshall (7-6)

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  30. UK is 11-24 from 2-point range, 4-7 from 3-point range, and 3-5 from the line.
    Western is 10-23 from 2-point range, 1-9 from 3-point range, and 5-6 from the line. So three-point shooting has helped UK so far. We haven't seen that very often in recent years.

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  31. Western opened the second half with five points in a row to make the score 37-33, but then UK scored 12 in a row, thanks in large part to 8 points from Grady. He has 22 points, and is 5-7 from three-point range. The Cats lead 49-33, and this game is so much easier when you can shoot.

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    1. When Justice scored the first bucket of the second half (I think it was his first make of the game), I convinced myself that WKU was going to come back and win.

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  32. That last 12-0 run by UK is one of the best stretches I've seen from them in years.

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    1. When that 12-0 run happened, I convinced myself that UK is going to win the national championship.

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  33. UK ended up with a 21-2 run, and led 58-35. At this point, Sharp turned his ankle and had go to the locker room. He got a tremendous ovation, as he should have. Since then, both teams have been running back and forth, and UK leads 62-42 with 11:35 left. Tsheibwe has 10 points and 17 rebounds.

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  34. When Wheeler is pushing the ball and Grady is hitting three's, this team has one of the prettiest offenses Calipari has had at UK.

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  35. With 10:55 left, Auburn leads Murray 55-41. Auburn is really good.

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  36. And Tennessee leads Arizona 22-10 with 9:12 left in the first half. I told you Arizona was in for a long night.

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  37. Cats up 72-47. With Sharp in the locker room, Tshiebwe has it all to himself on the boards. He has 14 points and 24 rebounds with 7:39 left in the game. Just incredible stuff. Grady has 23 points. Washington has 15. It's like a big party in Lexington right now.

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  38. Tshiebwe has the most rebounds for any UK player in a game since 1976. He holds the record for rebounds by a UK player in Rupp Arena. And there are still more than seven minutes left.

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  39. Mike Phillips had 28 rebounds in an overtime loss to Tennessee back in 1976.

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  40. With 2:09 left, Tshiebwe has 28 rebounds and 14 points. On Saturday, U of L had 28 rebounds against Western as a team. UK leads 89-56, and they will be moving up on Ken Pom.

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  41. I really hope that Sharp is not seriously injured. If he stays healthy, Western will be very tough to beat.

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  42. I do hope that Western drops the black uniforms.

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  43. Meanwhile, Auburn is beating Murray 71-54 with 1:42 left.

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  44. Final score: Auburn 71, Murray 58. Ken Pom had Auburn winning 79-66, so he had the margin exactly right.

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  45. Cats win 95-60. First time UK has scored 90 points in back-to-back games since November 2018, when they beat North Dakota 96-58 and beat VMI 92-82. UNC and Western are better than North Dakota and VMI.

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  46. UK is now up to number 10 in Ken Pom. They are number 9 in offensive efficiency, and number 31 in defensive efficiency. This is the first time they've been in the top 10 on Ken Pom since December 18, 2019, just before they lost to Utah and Ohio State.

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  47. Meanwhile, Tennessee leads Arizona 60-53 with 7:13 left in the game.

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  48. Now Tennessee leads 63-62 with 4:34 left. I've come to believe that a big part of UT's home court advantage is that their gym is a terrible place to shoot. Usually, by the time the visiting team figures that out, it's too late. Arizona scored only 21 points in the first half, and they have 41 points in the second half.

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  49. Now we've reached the stage of the proceedings where UT benefits from mysterious technical fouls. I hear you, stunned Arizona player. Welcome to Knoxville.

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    1. Remember that one guy? Who was that? Was it Josh Harrelson? He got the technical for bouncing the ball too hard on the floor? I don't think it was Harrelson. Was that against Tennessee? That was stupid.

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  50. 3:25 left. Vols lead 66-65. One of Arizona's players just fouled out and UT will be going back to the free throw line.

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  51. I wouldn't count on seeing much of Oscar Tshiebwe when UK goes down to Knoxville.

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    1. I've always assumed that SEC officiating for football was better than what we have to deal with in basketball, but if you watch "SEC Shorts" you see that the football fans hate the officials as well.

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    2. SEC football officiating is much better than SEC basketball officiating.

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  52. Leading 71-69, one of UT's guards drives into the lane and loses control of the ball, but it goes straight to John Fulkerson (who's been at UT forever), who scores and is fouled. The Vols lead 73-69 with 56 seconds left and Fulkerson going to the line.

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  53. Arizona goes inside, UT fouls them, steals the ball, and of course there's no foul called. UT has the ball and a 73-69 lead with 21 seconds left, and my guess is that Arizona won't be returning to Knoxville anytime soon.

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  54. Of Arizona's five starters, two have now fouled out, and the other three have four fouls each. Meanwhile, UT has only one starter with more than 3 fouls.

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  55. UT leads 74-71 with 13.6 seconds to go, and the Vols have the ball. Ken Pom had UT winning this game 75-73, and he could still hit it right on the nose.

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  56. UT wins 77-73. Great job by Ken Pom, the Vols, and Arizona for fighting their way back into the game.

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  57. ESPN reports that Tshiebwe's 28 rebounds tonight were the most by any D-1 player since 2015.

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  58. Rick Bozich had a great quote from Tshiebwe after the game: "When I go out, I just go fight. When the time is over, that's when I quit fighting."

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