| Defenseless Cats outrun Bearkats | ||||
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 photo by Steven Moline
But it's UK's defense that looks like it needs some fine-tuning. The Wildcats survived 37 points and 11 three-pointers from Sam Houston State guard Corey Allmond and 23 turnovers as UK finally outran the Bearkats 102-92 Thursday night at Rupp Arena. In all, Sam Houston State made a Rupp Arena record 18 of 38 three-pointers on the night, eclipsing Miami (Ohio)'s 15 three's Monday. "I've just called the rules committee to see if they'd move the line back," UK coach John Calipari said. "This may be the worst defensive team I've had since 1988. We have no sense of urgency." For the second straight game, it was one player doing most of the damage. Miami's Nick Winbush hit eight three's--a Rupp Arena opponent record Monday. Allmond flirted with David Robinson's Rupp Arena scoring record of 45 points set in 1989, before finishing with 37. "Defensively, I thought we'd be half decent," Calipari said. "You can't defend this way and win. Championship teams at every level do it with defense. At the end of the day, if we're going to be what everybody thinks we're going to be, we have to be one of the best defensive teams in the country. I still like my team, I'm just telling you the way it is. They're young freshman, they don't get it. But it's who we are right now." Luckily for the Cats, it was their offense that bailed them out on this night.c DeMarcus Cousins turned in a man-sized performance with 27 points and 18 rebounds. "How was DeMarcus Cousins?" Calipari said. "Oh my goodness." John Wall added 21 points, Patrick Patterson 20 and Eric Bledsoe 19. Darius Miller chipped in with 15 points as all five starters flirted with 20 points as the starters combined for all 102 of the Cats' points. But all the talk after the game focused on UK's defense--or lack thereof. "You have to communicate and talk on defense," Calipari said. "There's not enough time in the day to teach all these guys all the habits that they need, but we're going to try like heck. I got so much work to do with this time. We've got a lot to do." The Cats have a long way to go defensively and a short time to fix it. UK plays host to Rider Saturday, 88-74 winners at defending SEC Tournament Champion Mississippi State last week. "We had 12 turnovers between our point guards," Calipari said. "We're not playing winning basketball right now and it's going to catch us. It may catch us Saturday." Comments (0)
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