Despite the offensive explosions Kentucky has been cranking out here of late, it was an old steady that prevented the Wildcats from getting tripped up at home.

Trailing 51-48 midway through the second half, the Wildcats ran off 12 straight points, holding the Tigers scoreless for 5:41 as Kentucky finally subdued Auburn 73-64 Wednesday night in Rupp Arena.

"It was fantastic," Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie said of the defensive effort in the second half. "These guys are the guys that communitcate the best and do the best job of executing. We put our guys out there and they did the best job consistently for the longest and most important period of time. It was tremendous against a team that is very, very hard to guard. It was a good win for our team."

Despite a sore finger that was heavily wrapped, Patrick Patterson dominated the smaller Tigers to the tune of 21 points and a career-high 18 rebounds as the Cats crushed Auburn on the boards 42-22.

"He's a beast," Auburn guard Rasheem Barrett said. " I looked at him one time and I was hoping I could switch off. We double and triple teamed him and he just muscles it straight up. He never stops working."

Gillispie said it's the best he's ever seen Patterson play. With nine healthy fingers no less.

"He was very determined," Gillispie said. "He demands a lot of attention. He had three people around him. And bless his heart he has a hurt finger. He's rebounding way above the rim with two hands. He's a heck of a player. He's something else. I'm glad we got him. Boy I thought he was good tonight."

There must be something about the color orange that makes Jodie Meeks go absolutely berserk. Meeks topped the 30-point mark for the sixth time this season, scoring 31 points and sinking 12 of 13 free throws. It was the sixth consecutive game that Meeks notched at least 20 points, matching the same feat as Ramel Bradley last season. Perry Stevenson added a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds to go along with four blocks.

After a hotly contested first half, one in which the Wildcats were plagued by 13 turnovers, Ramon Harris' lay-in just before the halftime buzzer sent the Wildcats to the locker room with a 34-33 lead.

Patterson had already recorded his tenth double-double of the season by the break, scoring 12 points and corralling 12 rebounds in the game's first 20 minutes.

Back-to-back Meeks' three's coming out of the break as part of an 8-0 pushed the lead to 42-33.

"Defensively, Kentucky is very, very good," Auburn coach Jeff Lebo said. "There's not a weak link to them defensively and they turned up the heat a little in the second half and that threw us off a bit. We had three turnovers in a row. Meeks hurt us in transition with the three's. He's playing with such confidence."

Gillispie said he continues to be amazed at the play of Meeks and Patterson given the special attention they are given night in and night out.

"They got 53 and we had 73," Gillispie said. "Pat was a beast. This team is a very good man to man defense team. So our guys did a good job of getting the ball to Pat and finding Jodie in transition. He expended an unbelievable amount of energy to get 31 points. Those two guys continue to amaze me."

Stevenson steps up

Stevenson, who played well during conference play last season, is at it again through the first four games of this conference slate, recording his second double-double of the season.

"He was awesome," Gillispie said. "He didn't get off to a great start defensively, but it's the best I've ever seen him rebound in traffic with two hands. I thought he was fantastic tonight."

Patterson "limited"

Despite the middle finger on his shooting hand clearly bothering his shot (7 of 13 from the field), Patterson had himself a night.

"It's obviously hurting him a little bit, hopefully it gets better," Gillispie said. "He was trying to deliver the ball to the basket instead of shooting it."

Comments (0)