Ball or Nuthin' » Wildcats

Tennessee Knocks Off No.2 Kentucky

T Lamont — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 20:54:40 +0000

After avenging their lone loss of the season, the Kentucky Wildcats were ready to move on with the remainder of their schedule.

But Tennessee had some avenging of its own that needed to be carried out.

J.P. Prince and Scotty Hopson led the Volunteers (21-7, 9-5 SEC) to a 74-65 win over the Wildcats (27-2, 12-2 SEC) in Knoxville. The duo combined for 35 points, as Tennessee continued to bolster their NCAA tournament resume, which includes victories over Memphis and Kansas.

John Wall was only 6-16 from the field and committed 5 turnovers.

The Wildcats scored on consecutive dunks by DeMarcus Cousins (assisted by John Wall) to tie the game at 65. But it was the Volunteers who came through in the clutch, scoring the game’s last 9 points to provide the final margin of victory. Prince scored six of those points, including the winning points on a reverse layup. Hopson put the final nail in the coffin with a three-pointer.

The Vols had a big advantage in points off the bench, outscoring the Wildcats 20-5. Kentucky also shot poorly overall (21-60 for 35%) and even worse from 3-point range (2-22, 9%). Tennessee only made 6 three-pointers, but posted a respectable 47.5% (28-59) from the field.

Kentucky star John Wall contributed 19 points and 6 assists for the Cats, and Cousins added 15 points and 14 rebounds.

Georgetown Shoots Over 56% to Beat Villanova

T Lamont — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 04:19:47 +0000

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Last weekend, the Georgetown Hoyas pulled out a huge non-conference win against the Duke Blue Devils. But the Hoyas were not content with just one victory over a top-ten team.

On Saturday afternoon, they were successful in their quest to pick up another.

In the snow-covered Verizon Center, the Hoyas beat the second-ranked Villanova Wildcats, 103-90. The loss was Villanova’s first Big East loss, and only their second loss overall.

Julian Vaughn contributed 13 points in G'Town's victory over Villanova.

The Hoyas got big games from guards Jason Clark and Austin Freeman – they combined to shoot 16 of 23 from the field, including 8 three-pointers made. Georgetown dominated early behind the guards great shooting, and got a good second-half effort from big man Greg Monroe (19 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists in the game). Five Georgetown players ended the contest in double figures to set a season-high scoring total for them.

Villanova got its typical high-scoring game from Scottie Reynolds (24 pts.), but he didn’t have an efficient effort as he shot 6-17. The Hoyas forced him into committing 6 turnovers, which punctuated a tough night for the shooting star.

The free throw line was very good to the home team as they made 39 free throws, compared to just 17 for the Wildcats.

Next up, Georgetown has a couple of softer opponents (Providence, Rutgers) before tackling Syracuse. The Wildcats must bounce back to battle West Virginia on Monday night.

Kansas State Handles No.1 Texas

T Lamont — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 05:11:08 +0000

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Ninth-ranked Kansas State proved that it’s not just a third wheel in the Big 12.

With Texas and Kansas firmly regarded as the two top-dogs in the conference, the Wildcats controlled the Longhorns in Manhattan and came away with a 71-62 victory.

The normally dominant Texas frontcourt was shut down by the home team. All-American candidate Damion James, who came into the contest averaging about 18 points per game, was held in single figures. Center Dexter Pittman was in foul trouble throughout the game, and was held to just 6 points.

Athletic Texas swingman Damion James was held to just 9 points on Monday night.

Conversely, the Kansas State frontcourt was extremely active and effective. Jamar Samuels and Curtis Kelly, who were averaging 23 points together, combined for 37 points against the number-one team in the nation.

The Longhorns’ leading scorer in this game had 11 points. The Wildcats had four players that finished the game with at least 11 points.

Kansas State led Texas by 10 points at the half before the visiting team came out with more focus and execution. Texas was able to grab the lead in the middle of the second half, but K-State remained aggressive and attacked the Longhorn defense whenever they had the chance.

Kansas State is set for a date will the Oklahoma State Cowboys next, and will continue on against more conference foes. The Longhorns will face the Connecticut Huskies – a team who has endured some tough losses of late – on Saturday. Then they will continue with more Big 12 conference play.

Tim Tebow Gets Knocked Out

T Lamont — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 05:37:26 +0000

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With 4 minutes remaining in the third quarter and Florida leading Kentucky 31-7, how important is it to score more points?

That has to be the question that Urban Meyer must be asking himself after Tim Tebow was carted off the field on Saturday. Tebow was blasted by Kentucky defensive end Taylor Wyndham. From the momentum of the hit, Tebow’s head hit a teammate’s leg. Following this, Tebow was motionless for several minutes. He was transported to the hospital where he’s expected to stay overnight.

Let's hope Tebow can bounce back from Saturday's setback.

Now, of course, we all knew that Florida’s lead was not in jeopardy. In fact, after Tebow’s departure, the Gators outscored the Wildcats 10-0 for the remainder of the game – giving the contest a final score of 41-7.

I’d like to believe that someone with Tebow’s character would certainly understand that there’s a time when he should be in the game…and a time when he should not. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to come out of the game with his head held high.

Also, there’s this concept of respect for your opponent. But with NCAA football being the subjective beast that it is, any such respect has been tossed from the gameplan of coaches who habitually find themselves in the top bowl games.

Can we blame these types of decisions on the BCS computerized ranking system? How much better would a couple more touchdowns have made Florida look in the computer’s eyes?

Who knows. But I can tell you one thing…

It won’t really matter if Tebow’s not on the field…will it?