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Kentucky @ Vanderbilt: Second Half Open Game Thread

Well, what else can you say?/via Ben Brown

Well, what else can you say?/via Ben Brown

That half needs no exposition. It was one of the most dominant halves against a high-quality team I have seen in quite some time.

I want a lot more of this.

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Comments

Another 20 minutes...
Prepare for another 20 mins of war folks
If JL's stats hold up, we should be better in the second half...

Wow!

only on offense ;-)

But defense was so good that even a dip is still good

I want a lot more of the same as well ... Darius with 3 fouls and MKG in slow mo ..like to get those two on track and then 20 more minutes of the same would be nice
Vandy

will come out like gang busters I bet.

Welcome to the UK traveling romp show!
anyone see the BPI that ESPn published this week?

their version of the RPI

saw a reference to it earlier but haven't looked at it

That’s Dean Oliver at work I’m sure

I think its a fun way to work the numbers

not perfect by any means, but it seems moderately accurate…

They are even smiling in Heaven........

Prolly sitting right next to Cawood
At the end of the Kentucky Bench :)
Ya'all trying to make us cry?

Sniff sniff

53%!!! That's amazing
Once again

no foul called on Vandy by the refs!

time to quit celebrating and go to work
exactly - there are two halves
Actually, we started slow in the 1st half... I'll take a repeat, thank ya very kindly!
need to step on their throat NOW

please don’t make me sweat this one, guys

They just want to make it interesting for us
I'd be interested in a blowout.
Couldn't agree more. Vandy is coming out much stronger (I think) in this half.

Fouls will add up fast on our kids now.

seems this happens most games

Opponent comes out and scores a quick 4-5 points and Cal calls timeout with under 2 minutes played.

I'm sure you're tracking that, right?? LOL
not explicitly ;-)

Just something I’ve noticed

Teague
does Taylor think he plays for UK or something?
sorry, didn't mean that as a reply :)

My computer is being weird

MKG having a bad time tonight
getting ready to see how we do with foul trouble
Important test pre-March
3 on DM and MKG...

Could be a factor later??

Not good. Not good.
Miller that was just just moronic

absolutely braindead

4 on DM...

Well shit!

Took the words out of my mouth
C'mon Darius............pull your head out of your jersey
Miller just cant catch a break tonight....Wiltjer will have to take up his slack
Here we go...

foul trouble!

his arm was trapped against tinsley
Davis that was MANLY
Uni doing work!!
Davis is a bad "shut your mouth"
Move clock - move.
this is good....

we can see how we do in foul trouble

don't want to have to find out here.
too late...

we are in foul trouble. call me mr half glass full

Oh I know we're in foul trouble; just really didn't want that.
that was really pretty by Lamb

I love a floater

MKG just not getting anything done
Is there any way to stop Taylor?
Man, MKG......
That should be UK ball
Are they going to call the moving screen by Ezeli ever!
no

it’s going to be lopsided, get used to that

settle down boys
Doron is pretty animated tonight
we still need a 3
We still need a W

3’s don’t really matter

3's are very helpful for getting W's though
and keeping an awesome streak going...
Please please let it be Kyle

Erase earlier bad mojo

MKG sisn't make the trip south
Him and Darius are still on the bus..
sisn't = didn't
Oh, how I

do NOT want to lose to Vandy! Make it tough for me to go to work on Monday in downtown Nashville!

The 'Cats have to withstand this.

If Vandy doesn’t get there, they will fall.

we expected a run from them ... we have to answer
Agreed, if we withstand and then open out a few more points we're fine

If they tie or go ahead it’s on.

Fight

Vandy is bringin’ it, we need to get our swagger back

Agree

Need MKG & DM to play w/o fouling.

MGK not playing his best defensive game,

let alone offensively.

I still believe in our defense....It will win the night!
Need a play out of the T.O. for a 3pt or lob.....
We REALLY have to watch fouls now. We are hurting bad in that department
shut up with your dire graphics, ESPN
Lamb missing too many shots!
I hope Uk doesnt have an adrenaline dump....with fould trouble more minutes will be mandatory
Great board Jones

GREAT look Teague

Way to run the floor AD
Guard the 3 boys...

Pretty simple in the end.

Guess they didn't hear me??
You don't defend that shot...
ordinarily I would say they can let them have that shot from that distance all day

But not when it’s Jenkins.

Momentum...
Yep

let them back in the game and the crowd will carry them.

half court threes are next right?
That was insane
indeed some of these are contested and rather long
I gotta say it feels kinda bad right now
Dang 6 quick ones

what an equalizer. Make them come inside where we have wingspan man

OMG this is getting ugly
Vandy is

ALWAYS ugly!

Cal got his wish

They just went NUTSO

You could call this "nutty".

How do we respond?

Jenkins is feeling it

We Need to answer

Time for a leader to show up

and take control

MKG heard you
Lamb come one man....answer with some 3's of your own

Break their spirit

They're playing great D on the perimeter
what are ADs FT number in conference play?

got to be in the 80s right?

MKG breaks the ice...
MKG finally showed up!
Band Bang....way to answer men
Not sure we needed that shot
Wow Lamb's 3's aren't close tonight
looked to me like that last one was teague
thats not what we need from teague
What has happened to our defense?
Guys.. we just need 2's
Where's the D

They barely made 20 in the first half, they have 45 at the 10 min mark

Playing tentative on D...
No travel there.....
shit. shit shit shit. shit.
Offensive rebounding would be so nice right now
They tied it

It’s gut check time!

You got that right

Time to learn and take control

MKG is...trying to do too much?

Just take what they gave you

WTH? Where did we go?
Memorial Magic ... and a little disruption from the ref's
this is nutty - i think
it is nutty

and I HATE it. Take it back, Cal!!

I believe this team..I'm sure they will come back
Cal's wish is coming true!
Very very true

they have a saying about what you wish for, right?

its way to early in the morning for this kind of stress
what time is it over there ?
0630
yep to early for stress

we’ll be fine

Sometimes you will give up open looks from long range...you just gotta hope they miss a high percentage

they arent

they did first hall

this ain’t the first half

kinda looked like MKG got tripped coming off the screen
been happening all night!
We need to focus......make our switches on defense correctly and play our game....

nad we will be fine

I don't care about nad.

He’s our problem. ;-)

yes

Vandy made a run. Not terribly surprising. Just another chance for the team to grow a little more.

also a chance for our kids to get beat; still prefer blowouts
you're right

but I was really hoping they WOULDN’T ;)

Did good on D in front of Cal

Not good away from him

Maybe their offence will improve?
If Vandy played 4 10 minute spurts like that, they would break 100 (they still have a minute to go also)
Now is the time to settle the game down and execute good offensive sets
Truer words never written
Vandy has gone to a zone, and with DM not on the floor, we're not flashing to the middle...
how about play a little d?
This is sucking right now.

Need to slow these Vandy shooters down.

And tighten up the D
I'd say they're nervous

lots of bricks on rather open looks

Now this is how we play defense
We don't need MGK and Teague taking the 3's
Miller!

BIG TIME!

Miller thank you thank you
We needed that
Thank you Darius
MILLER TIME

that never gets old

UK is taking some body blows....time to push them back against the cage

and take control of the fight (errr game)

Thank you Miller!
silly foul davis
just reached out and slapped him on the back as he ran by......
Wow, absolutely idiotic AD
Idiotic
I can only assume he's feeling peer pressure with everyone's fouls
If Miller makes 4 3's.....

I will forget the four fouls……I promise

Vandy struggles to finish games, we'll see
Taylor is trying to start something
he may start if but Jones would finish it ;-)
Definitely a foul
Finally!

Odoms has been pushing AD like a madman all night.

why would you deliver the inbounds pass there?

Not a smart choice

DM, that was dumb

so many dumb dumb decisions – shooting ourselves in the foot

be lucky to get out of here alive.
Got caught sleeping there.
Falling asleep on D!
Where's the D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MKG was hanging his head and got beat
Got a bad feeling about this
well, if this isn't nutty, I don't know what is
MKG is not around today.. and that is hurting us
Oh for heaven's sake
3 on Uni...
Wow, they called it on Jones...
sounds like they gave it to Jones
BS

that was a foul on Ezeli much more than on us

can't hit a danged thing and cannot rebound for nothing.
sorry for the bad grammer - nerves shot.
anticipation foul ....
Vitale

Dick says Vandy wants it more

Vandy has home court

I don’t worry about road games much anymore

cant stand Dicky V
Refs have lost control.

Blowing the whistle then deciding there was a foul.

And, our team is showing our youth a bit. Calm down, guys.

Gotta get their heads back in this game

b4 it gets away.

I hate the zone defense so much
UK apparently does as well
And that's the way you break it!
they can beat it though

They’re getting good shots, they just aren’t going in. It happens.

We'd best figure out how to beat it, everyone is going to be throwing it at us
Yes! wow, that was fast
nearly threw my computer in theair in that dunk
Somebody tell me AD

wasn’t fouled on that first replay.

refs already told ya!
Road game, 7 v 5...
Yeah,

AD should have gotten some pads from the football team before heading to Nashville. He’s been hung on, undercut, hacked and mugged.

so whats new about that lol
In the first half Teague was wheelin and dealin'

the zone has completely taken him out of the game on offense

I looooove good basketball.....
We got a good one tonight

Gonna be a barn burner

Don't give up on this team and

no negative vibes!!

Not giving up

just want them to play defense and not give up 3s.

oh, we got this game
BTW..y'all can mute, if Dick V sounds annoying

part of positive vibe!!! :)

Bring it on!

Gotta love this….I am all jacked up, pissed off, and ready to beat this Vandy team. GO CATS!

welcome to the thread

we all are lol

What would it take to get ESPN to quit playing with the camera angle?
I've been thinking that

we’ve had a lot of horrible angles tonight!

Still trying to find a good angle

in this bizarre arena.

There is no good place for

camera angle in that gym. Been there many times and it is built like a theatre.

Dicky V at Murray State

oh wow

Yeah! Murray State

is my alma mater.

I didn't go there (GOOOO Hilltoppers!) but live about 20 minutes away
Kids there will be super excited.

Good for Murray State, they’ve earned the spotlight.

Oh, poor Murray. They get Dickie V.
Lamb diving to the floor to get a ball - that's the kind of effort they need
Ok its UK's turn to start raining 3's
Ask and ye shall receive!
And Lamb answers your call
What a great coaching call there Cal!

A little heat to throw things around…

good ball movement there: inside-out for the 3!
YES

thank you thank you thank you Lamb

Doron.. my man!!
LAMB!!

We NEED Lamb to get hot from out there. Or Miller

good one AD.. way to go
I guess AD

was not fouled there.

What a pair of blocks
The refs are JOBBING us
even Dickie V says that was BS
Horrible call!

Just sad…

That was absolute BS
Refs really want Vandy to win this down't they?
Any time Tony Greene

is refereeing, he will be for the other team.

you got that right. You'd think someone in the league could do something about him.
Green!?

Oh, I hadn’t noticed. Lord help us.

Now they're blowing it

for both sides. Game will be chaos since neither team knows how the refs are calling fouls.

I dont buy that at all...even with the sketchy officiating
That's how it works
Loveit!

GO BIG BLUE! My ref hubby said ref blew whistle & did not knjow what he had.

WOw.....if that had been a no call on UK....this place would have exploded
MT with the floater...
Nice move Teague
God I hate stress.... why cant we just blowout everyone we play...
TJ

Get possessed!

Survive and advance Cats, survive and advance...
Yup...win and get the hell outta there
Miracle no call there
that just shows how terrible these refs are!
Good D there MKG..
Pressure

Gonna be a fun. Finish

WE ARE KY, we can do this!!!!!!
Damn straight we can
Defense would be good
Where is Teague?

SUpposed to be on Tinsley!

And down the stretch they come....looking for a closer
Thank you Lamb
leave him that open he WILL make it. nice lamb
LEAD

oh man. I think I’m gonna have to put down the laptop. Too nervous

Ashley loves it
If we lose, do we still deserve #1?
That will not be happening.....so there is no sense discussing it
won't be number 1.
Lob to Davis out of the TO......
Lamb

“Mama there goes that man!”

The offense needs to flow through Miller

He’s the only one making good decisions with passing the ball and getting to the middle of the zone without turning it over

He's a good decision-maker

except for that one inbounds

Lost my voice today, and am reduced to hand gestures

Not pretty

Your name Stallings?
Let's just say I'm being very visually rude
My pets probably wish I'd lost my voice today.

I keep scaring them with my yelling

They can't hear you!
big free throws coming up
Before the shot
1 and 1 though, right?
Oh, are we in the bonus?
that is what I heard...tho they could be wrong
In the bonus they said
The Boss is pretty steady there...
Come on Gillie...FT's are of the upmost importance now!
Anybody got a cigarette????.....lol
I quit over a year ago

I could use one

Nope,

Hey man, want one of these………..?

yes plenty of em
Glad 2nd half

put the offense in front of our bench for Cal to direct.

Man.

Knew this would be tough. And it is.

I hope we didn't use up all our giddy and happy at halftime
Cream rises to the top, let's see what we got...
Guys.. hang in there..this team is going to show us its toughness
Cal wanted a tough one

He’s got it

Sweaty palms....more Vodka
Fell like I'm beating a dead horse but, Vargas could have given us a few good minutes tonight???
Character building

Better in Feb than March

ive got haters all around wanting the mighty to fall
I am thinking that ice cream would be good for a victory snack.....

anyone else?

make mine rum flavor
Ice in the viens!
Two minutes....
Davis that was a MANNNNN block!
Thank you for hitting those FTs
Uni...

Take that shiiiiiiiiiiiit outta here!

Get that shit out of here says davis
i hate nail bitters....
Yes! now score again
Wow

Talk about some good fortune!

oooooooooo.. that was good
Wow... Just wow...
DAVIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yessssssssssssssssssssssss!
HAHAHAHAHA

Davis block hit Ezeli in the back of the head!!

Hah!

Blocked and off the back of Ezili for the board!

I think I'm having heart rate issues.
9-1-1 is as close as your phone :)
+1 breathe slowly.. and take a chill pill
That's why Uni is priceless
AD is pretty good

He won’t be the last kid on the playground without a team

are you kidding? They'll make him play all by himself!
pretty good...

…like POY good!!

Looks like there will be no Memorial Magic
Well said Ma'am!
hat clock dont say00:00 yet.....
Teague was pushed to the floor.

No call, of course.

I think he just slipped
Ladies and Gentlemen.....this has been a test of the emergency Wildcat Broadcasting System....it is only a test.....
Must! Make! Free! Throws!

and it’s ova

This is my biggest pet peeve. Missed FTs
Our Achilles heel year after year
Let's hit these FTs, guys
whew..... im sweating badly right now. feels like iive been playing
I sure wish MKG had hit the FT
Hit the frickin' FT's!

Killin’ me…

It should be over
Are we gonna miss all the FTs now?
Dang! this could be over if we had made free throws in the final minute
What a game .... GO BIG BLUE!!!
Nearly another Triple/Double for Davis
Good defense - they were dead set on the 3 and it hurt them
over now

Only thing left is the final score

Defense got good again, just when we needed it.
Ashley is smiling
Always a good thing
Where's here hubby?

(And who’s that guy?)

Whew!
The Chant showing up again...
feels so good.
Well, I think this was a test they needed

And happily, they passed

I just decided I like blowouts better
How about Miller and MKG managing to stay on the floor without picking up any more fouls? Good for them.
I hear go big blue....love it
I think I need a refill...

Sigh…

I'm going to go breathe now...
+1

Whewwwwww

0-3 on the last front ends
yeah, basically 5 missed points there
I can't wait until they come to Rupp.

I’d like to see a 30 point smack down just for putting us through this.

Yep... I'm good with this!
Faith guys.. have faith on this team and they reward you.
I never had a doubt
Cheers to Big Blue Nation!!!!
Davis, Teague, TJ

man’s work tonight from those guys

The haters in the room are quiet now and im smiling my ass off!
Embrace the hate ;-)
I was never worried ;-)
oh sure - your hands are probably still shaking!
Vandy doesn't finish again
Character

That win says a lot

Whew!

I never want to lose to Vandy. Makes it too hard to live here and go to work.

ok - i'm back

missed the 1H. watched the first 10 minutes of 2H – decided i had to leave the blog so they could get the win

I have Perma-Smile!
You didn't take one of those V pills, did ya?? LOL
Nah, i had the suspended Alabama players over for the game ;-)
So you're nice and calm, right?? ;-)
Good one. i missed this first time. Too busy doing my happy dance and smiling at the haters!
Hahaha, Cal is joking with AD
AD is just a kid..kinda hard to believe
True

He doesn’t act or play like one. Almost makes you forget

Davis " I dont miss free throws anymore" Damn right
I'm back, did you miss me??

Whew. That was rough. SO happy right now.

whered ya go?
had to put down the computer, too nervous to talk or type :)

I’m a dork

understood...thats why i joined late
geek shiek?

;-)

nerds are where it's at, seven!
Yup, I saw the movie and was converted :)
those with allergies may request a form rubber pillow...........
That game wore me out.
Well, that was fun

Nice to hang out with you all tonight. Glad I didn’t jinx us :) G’night all!

that was the best
That Erin is so HOT ... what did Davis say???
Davis was there?
haha.. same here
drooling over here
I don't care if she's from Florida, Arizona or the Congo ... she's a hottie
I forgot to breathe there for a while
Well..

… that was lots of fun, wasn’t it?

That was the bomb
today was fun..OSU lost and we won.. shows our character

GO CATS

Glad we

fought through it and won. That shows growth.

If by fun you mean "potential stuff of nightmares" and/or "heart attack inducing"....

Yeah, who am I kidding, THAT ROCKED :-)

We needed a game like this...
My game ball goes to Teague

He was a cool customer today. He is really starting to blossom and become what we all hoped he would.

He really dominated the first half and did his job....luv it
Im off to get some breakfast.

SWEET DREAMS CAT FANS!!!!!

Take care of yourself, and have a good week.
Stay safe

Chow hall breakfasts, uuugggghhh

Nah... Breakfast is the best, it's the mystery meat casserole at dinner that will give ya the shivers!!
AMEN! Eggs made to order, good coffee, real bacon. You have to fill up at

breakfast because supper is usually nasty. I love salad but after three weeks of that for lunch and supper, I’m ready for something yummy.

enjoy your day ... I mean morning ...
Calipari is a genius.

He knew how this game was going to go when he made that “nutty on us” statement.

nutty nutty nutty
best d of the year last 4 mins
Where can one see/hear Cals post game?
630 WLAP is where I am
Thnx
Me too but WHAS will work too!
Matt Jones Call in show? isn't that on WHAS after the game?
both Wlap and/or Whas
after the Mike Pratt (IMG)post game
GREAT WIN!!!

What more can be said of Anthony Davis… The kid is National Player of the Year! Some tense moments, but these guys REFUSE TO LOSE! Great effort from M. Teague and T. Jones too… I love these guys! I had a house full of Big Blue fans, and we really enjoyed ourselves… Big, big VICTORY… We never , ever give up!

+1
This is probably our toughest road test-

And I just knew that the second half was not going to be like the first. Vandy is a veteran team and they gave us all they had. We passed the test the Coach Cal wanted with flying colors. I don’t think anybody in the SEC beats us now… GO CATS!!!

Folks, That's how champions play.....
i love these cats
This game also exposed our weakness to zone defense

something Cal can work over before March.

We've seen tons of zone and know how to attack it

I don’t know why it got under our skin today. Usually DM gets to that SEC logo and the zone collapses then dies. (Kinda hard to do that when he’s on the bench with 4 fouls)

he really stepped it up

when we needed it

The point is when Miller is out

we don’t stand a chance…maybe MKG should step in?

Wondering how we would've fared if it was cuse

and this was a FF game!! Need more than a miller to help us break the defense.

Agreed

Cuse plays a 2-3 better than anybody in the country. They would have beat us tonight if we got into this much foul trouble with them

Ergo.. Cal has some work to do

Dores exposed our weakness and now the coach know what to teach these kids.

Has UK ever had the National Defensice Player of the Year?
they do now
I think that is a lock now
Not that I'm aware of...
I didn't know we had a shot to break the NCAA record for TEAM blocked shots ... awesome
what is the team ncaa record for blocks and where do we stand after tonight?
UCONN set the record in 2004 with 315 .... by my count we have 243 after tonight
wow we should get that early in the tournament
Rate were going we'll get it before the end of the SEC tourney
I think as a team we average 9 blocks per game
12 tonight
So if we do stay right at 9 it would be in the SEC.... that would be AWESOME
I knew our defense would carry us tonight ... Davis is national POY IMO
How cool would it be to have him get the DPOY and POY?

Certainly showing he deserves DPOY and should be top 2/3 at least for POY…. let alone ROY

I think he deserves all three .. only working against him is that he is a freshman
That would really cool ... Davis blocks a lot but Jones and the rest of the cats get their share as well
that is a creative spelling ;)
I blame the makers of Absolut Vodka
I've blamed shit a lot worse than creative spelling on them!
It's been fun, g'nite all.
I'm out, relax with another beverage Gang, have a great rest of the weekend!
Take care comrade!
Admiral.....

He’s coming for you……

goodnight Big Blue Nation...awesome win on the road..........
I am gonna sleep good tonight.....

Someones been sleeping in MY bed
So you are relegated to the twin bed I see ;-)
we shove two of them together on party nights!!!!

such as tonight!!!

Later all

I was too tense to text much. Thanks for being here.

Fun win

Enjoyed being tested on the road and coming out on top….this team is cattastic baby!

I may have to put on my good Wranglers and hit the town....

Feelin’ pretty good

I'd need a Taxi ... :)
Note to self ...

… Stay away from Cat-clad vehicles looking to hit the town. ’-)

Going to watch that again right now
Lexington weather just said that temp in Lex went up by 5 pts in the last 1/2 hour
Sweet....might be streakin weather
quick call Erin Andrews ... I'll get a plane
Best idea yet ;-)
Don't forget Ashley.....
Not sure if this has been discussed but....

with 1:18 left in the first Ezli basically punched Teague in the back of the head the ref was RIGHT there….sorry so late but I have not been on the boards as they seem (at least to me) to cause UK to play bad….wow that sounded retarded anyhow did anyone else see this and how did he not get ejected

BTW he did miss the chip in layup after punching Teague
just played it in slow-mo

you are exactly rite, knocked him down

i just went back and watched. he smacked him hard in the back of the head. I missed it live
nice pickup.....
yeah,

I totally missed that. That really makes me mad.

What was Ezeli’s suspension earlier in the year for anyway? I missed it..

I want to say it was academics, but dont quote me on that
I think that's right Greg and he tore his knee up as well - missed 10 games
Not to bring up old shit but that was eerily

similar to a fellow named Laettner…..and a stomp

I wonder...

If Digger Phelps will “allow” us to cheer now? ;)

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