Turns out all Kentucky needed was a little old-fashioned Memorial magic.

Playing in Memorial Coliseum for the first time since March 8, 1976, the Wildcats played perhaps their best half of basketball in weeks and parlayed that into a 70-60 feel good win over UNLV in the first round of the NIT.

"Our fans were unbelievable," Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie said. "It was a lot of fun in there. I can tell our guys had a great time. What an honor to play in this building with so many great players and coaches. It was a great crowd and they did their part. It was a great crowd."

Jodie Meeks poured in 12 of his 19 points in the second half and Patrick Patterson added his 15th double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds as the Cats shot a sizzling 50 percent for the game (26 of 52). Kentucky also got solid contributions 

Patrick Patterson's tip dunk at the horn gave UK a 36-24 lead going into the intermission.

A 6-0 spurt to start the second half pushed the lead to 42-24 and when the lead ballooned to 50-30 at the 15:58 mark, it looked like the Wildcats were going to run the Runnin' Rebels right out of the gym. But UNLV responded. After connecting on 3 of 17 three's in the first half, the Rebels hit on 7 of 16 in the second stanza, eventually paring the Kentucky lead to 60-57 on a Joe Barger three-pointer with 4:10 left.

"They went 3 of 17 in the first half, but they're a much better shooting team than that," Gillispie said. "They're hard to guard."

But unlike so many times this season, the Cats battened down the hatches, made plays and got stops down the stretch and came away with a 10-point victory. The Cats also got solid contributions from Ramon Harris (six points, 11 rebounds, four assists), Perry Stevenson (10 points, four rebounds) and Darius Miller (nine points, five rebounds).

"I thought we responded really well and I think that shows how our team is maturing," Meeks said. "We did a good job of withstanding their run and getting stops when we needed them."

With so much turmoil over the last two months and playing in its first NIT since 1979, no one could be sure which Kentucky team would show up or if they would show up at all. But Meeks put all that to bed.

"This has never been a team to give up," Meeks said. "Anytime we put on a Kentucky uniform, we're going to come to play."

Patterson said the team still has one common goal, albeit a different one from the beginning of the season.

"We want to keep this train rolling," Patterson said. "We all have the same goal and that is to win the NIT championship."

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