Kentucky Ink

It had been building over the last several weeks. What was once a low rumble had become an audible roar. 

Kentucky hadn't played its best basketball by any stretch of the imagination over the last couple weeks of the SEC season. Narrow escapes and what many consider would have been/could have been losses combined with cold shooting performances had fans and pundits alike writing off the Wildcats as potential national championship contender material.

The whole episode crowned Saturday at Tennessee when the Cats shot a woeful 2 of 22 (9 percent) from beyond the arc in a 74-65 loss. 

All of a sudden, Kentucky went from the most talented team in the country to a team that was going to shoot itself right out of the tournament. All of a sudden, Bruce Pearl was on ESPN's Pardon The Interruption parading around the blueprint for how to beat Kentucky. The Vols did it. South Carolina did it earlier this season. It has to work.

Slow the game down. Grind it to a halt. Play a soft zone. Make Kentucky beat you from the outside. Control John Wall. Double team DeMarcus Cousins. Foul Cousins. Win.

But after Wednesday's 80-68 thumping of Georgia--who was previously unbeaten at home against SEC East competition this season and 13-3 overall--it looks as though the rumors of UK's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

The Cats turned in perhaps their most complete performance of the SEC season--shooting 54.4 percent all the while launching a staunch defensive attack in blocking a season-high 14 shots in stifling the Bulldogs in the second half.

The Wildcats are what they are. They were never built to be a hot shooting basketball team that's going to beat you from the outside or rely on making 3's to score points. They're long. They're athletic. They're quick. They're the biggest team in the country. They're one of the best defensive teams in the country. One of the top rebounding teams in the nation. They have three of the best individual talents in college basketball. They're good at what they do. That's how they beat you.

Twice in 30 games this season, the team on the other end of the floor was able to perhaps slow the game down enough (not to mention play well enough) to beat Kentucky. The last time I checked, those weren't very good odds (that's roughly 6 percent for those of you scoring at home). If it was easy, everyone would do it.

Look at it this way: UK was 2 of 22 from the 3-point line and was still tied at 65-65  with two minutes left and a chance to win the game on the road at Tennessee. The Cats scored a season-low points, shot a season-low field goal percentage and shot 56 percent from the free throw line and still won at Vanderbilt. It's more than just making shots. Simply put, if UK makes shots, they bury you. If they don't, they're still going to win 93.3 percent of the time.

There's no question that if you try to run with Kentucky, they're going to run you right out of the gym. But if you try to slow it down and grind it out, the Cats are good enough defensively to bleed you out. In a sense, when you slow the game down and limit offensive possessions against a defensive team the caliber of UK, you have to play even more of a perfect game to win. 

Not to mention if you are a team that doesn't normally play slow. Look what it did to Tennessee. They're playing normally and they go on an 18-0 run in the first half. They hold the ball in the second half, get out of an offensive rhythm and let Kentucky back in the game. It's a risky proposition. 

The bottom line is this: Kentucky is really, really good. There's a reason multiple reasons why they're 28-2 and ranked No. 3 in the country. They can beat you with offense. They can beat you with defense. They can beat you with rebounding.

And it's going to take more than an off shooting night to knock them off.

- John Calipari said he spoke to one coach in the league and he said with the benches in the endzones, "it's going to be really hard."

"When I told John and Eric they wouldn't be able to hear me for the first 20 minutes, they said, 'really? Good.'"

- Calipari said A.J. Ogilvy played really well last night in the Commodores win at Ole Miss and said he should be psyched for a rematch with UK's bigs.

- Games like Saturday, and every game for that matter, Calipari says is why his teams tend to play so well in March, because of the "land mines" they have to navigate during the regular season. Everyone is going to give the Cats their best shot. "We're not stunned by anyone's effort," Calipari said. 

"Everywhere we go is sold out. Everywhere we go is a record crowd. Especially when your team is good and they're dying to beat you."

- Cal freely admits that Saturday's game is going to be very difficult for the Cats to win.

"You're not trying to win the game by 20. You just hope you have a team that responds in an environment where they are by themselves."

- Says game doesn't matter as far as the SEC race is concerned. Says the Cats are only playing for NCAA Tournament seeding.

- Said in Tuesday's win over Mississippi State, they got exactly what they've been looking for out of Patrick Patterson. 

"Think about what Pat did to win that game. He hit the short jumper, he hit free throws, he rebounded, he blocked shots. That's what we need out of him."

- Cal said a lot of times, it's UK's miscues that keep other teams in ballgames.

"We're good enough to beat anybody but we play a style where any team can beat us."

- Calipari said he is proud of the way his young team has responded to being under a constant microscope this season.

"Under the glow, for this young a team, this environment, for them to respond, I'm proud of them."

- Said they are treating, and will continue to treat, every game the same.

"You can't ask them to charge a mountain every time or you'll lose a game you're not supposed to. We approach every game the same."

As we enter the homestretch of the recruitment of everyone's favorite Kentucky point guard prospect (as evidenced by our front page poll), the rumblings on a decision are starting to become louder and more distinct. 

Brandon Knight's mother, Turgenia, told our own Jeff Drummond recently that with all of the visits taken, decision time draweth nigh. She said her son "has a pretty good idea" of where he wants to go and will choose between Kentucky, Kansas, Miami, Connecticut and Florida in the near future.

Between UK coach John Calipari's history with point guards and the success of John Wall this season, conventional wisdom has tabbed the Wildcats as a possible favorite in the Knight sweepstakes. 

There were even rumblings that the UK coaching staff felt better than they had in months about where they stood in Knight's short order.

I spoke to a source closely connected to Knight's recruitment and they say...not so fast.

I was told that at this point, Florida--not Kentucky--is the leader in Knight's recruitment with only not a lot of time remaining before Knight's decision. Knight's mother said to expect a decision sometime after Knight's high school season. Look for Knight to announce his college decision the Tuesday after the Florida state championships in a few weeks.

There is tremendous pressure on Knight to stay in the state of Florida and because of the coaching change from Billy Gillispie to John Calipari, the Wildcats, compared to some of the other schools on Knights' list, are relative newcomers to Knight's recruitment.

The source said that if it was up to Brandon, the choice would be Florida. His father is pushing UCONN and his mother really likes Miami and Kansas. 

The Florida coaching staff certainly feels like they are in the driver's seat but the source said that if there is one school that can make up the ground needed to win out, it's Kentucky. Kentucky--much like North Carolina--has the reputation of a school that can just kind of swoop in and get who they want.

"Kentucky is Kentucky," the source said. "I know Kentucky makes them nervous."

If Calipari and the Cats fail to reel in Knight, they will almost certainly land Josh Selby. But I'm told the UK staff--and everyone else for that matter--still prefers Knight.

"Brandon Knight plays major college defense right now," the source said. "He can beat you with his defense."

Another week, another SEC Freshman of the Week honor for Kentucky.

At this point, it's not a matter of 'if', rather just 'which' Wildcat freshman will win the award.

This week, it's DeMarcus Cousins' turn.

Cousins, a 6-11 forward from Birmingham, Ala., scored 16 points and pulled down 14 rebounds in only 17 minutes of action in helping lead Kentucky (19-0, 4-0 SEC) to a 101-70 win against Arkansas.

It was Cousins’ 10th double-double of the season, one shy of the UK freshman record of 11 (Chris Mills) in a season. He has recorded two straight double-doubles and has recorded six double-doubles this season while playing less than 20 minutes in the game.

The honor is the second Freshman of the Week award for Cousins this season and his third weekly award this year. Cousins was named the SEC Player of the Week on Jan. 4.

The Cats have now been awarded a league record 10 weekly awards from the SEC this season. Freshman John Wall has been named the league’s freshman of the week four times, while Cousins (SEC Player of the Week and SEC Freshman of the Week) has been honored three times and Bledsoe twice. Patrick Patterson was named SEC Player of the Week in week two.

Kentucky returns to action on Tuesday at South Carolina. The game is scheduled for a 9:00 p.m. ET tip and can be seen live on ESPN.