Final.

That 2nd half was the best half they played all year

Julius with a paltry five points but he fought for boards until the end.

Julius with a paltry five points but he fought for boards until the end.

 

He had 8 points and 14 boards. I'll take that and a 20 point win any day.

It was a chilly walk to and from the car tonight, but at least it was a victory after and underwhelming first half.

 

I thought UK looked like they had been off for over a week and it showed with poor shot selection, but they settled down and played much better in the second half.

 

If anything, I think their conditioning looks much better than it was prior to Camp Cal.

 

Once again, Hawkins providing a spark off the bench and it was good to see Dakari Johnson contribute to night.

 

Sidenote, I hope some of the renderings that we have been seeing about Rupp Arena come to fruition. Rupp is a nice place to see a game but definitely needs some upgrades. I just want them to replace Big Bertha with a jumbotron.

As usual, the Cats started slow, I thought that most of the first half they looked slow or lack of hustle. MSU is a bad basketball team but I will say that they came in to play and not just show up. MSU probably played about a mile over their heads tonight and in the second half things got back to reality. I am not worried at all about Randle's lack of scoring, should anyone get all over that I would have to ask if they actually watched the game and saw the two, usually three defenders hanging all over him, beating him to death without a call for the most part. Plus, Randle imo did continue to work hard, he was his usual beat on the boards.

U.K., in the first half imo were not going inside nearly enough, there was a definite advantage over MSU's weak inside game. I heard Cal say that as well on the post game interview. Young was great in this one, no other way to say it. I haven't looked at the stats but aside from his scoring I know that he had several rebounds and I saw at least three assist, plus he played good defense. WCS worked hard on the inside as usual and as I said, didn't look up the stats but (to me anyway) still seem that the Twins are not quite comfortable yet. Others may see it different, was jmo.

Overall a good SEC opener, 1-0 is better than 0-1 heading into a game with Vandy, who always seems to play the Cats tough.

This when very much how I told my dad I thought it would. Knew we needed a big game feom Young because of the way Randle would be defended.

 

Way to many threes in the first half. Cant just settle for those especially when they aren't falling.

 

Poythress had some monster dunks.

 

Hawkins needs to have a little more confidence. Cant allow teams to sag that far off him and clog the lane.

 

All in all, great time at the game with dad. Well worth being tired tomorrow. Go Cats!

Poythress and Cauley-Stein added 12 points apiece. It's the first game Randle failed to score in double figures but he still had 14 boards.

At the game they only showed the replay once, so for those who watched at home:

 

The foul on WCS towards the end of the first half, right before they got the double technical, good or bad call? I was in the top tier but right across from that play and I couldn't believe they called a foul on him. Thoughts?

 

Also, the play (I think it was still in the first half) when Poythress got bumped quite a bit by a Miss St. player on a rebound in the defensive corner. They gave the ball to Miss St. Did they call a travel or OB on Poythress? And did it look like he got fouled there?

 

Not complaining really, just wondering because they don't really show you as many replays as you'd like to see when you're at the game.

At the game they only showed the replay once' date=' so for those who watched at home: The foul on WCS towards the end of the first half, right before they got the double technical, good or bad call? I was in the top tier but right across from that play and I couldn't believe they called a foul on him. Thoughts? Also, the play (I think it was still in the first half) when Poythress got bumped quite a bit by a Miss St. player on a rebound in the defensive corner. They gave the ball to Miss St. Did they call a travel or OB on Poythress? And did it look like he got fouled there? Not complaining really, just wondering because they don't really show you as many replays as you'd like to see when you're at the game.[/quote']

 

Not sure on the WCS call.

 

Poythress was bumped and they called him out of bounds. I thought it looked to be a pretty bad call, especially with how they'd been calling fouls the rest of the game.

At the game they only showed the replay once, so for those who watched at home:

 

The foul on WCS towards the end of the first half, right before they got the double technical, good or bad call? I was in the top tier but right across from that play and I couldn't believe they called a foul on him. Thoughts?

 

Also, the play (I think it was still in the first half) when Poythress got bumped quite a bit by a Miss St. player on a rebound in the defensive corner. They gave the ball to Miss St. Did they call a travel or OB on Poythress? And did it look like he got fouled there?

 

Not complaining really, just wondering because they don't really show you as many replays as you'd like to see when you're at the game.

 

Terrible call imo.

Terrible call imo.

 

I was baffled when I saw it live. Then when I saw the replay they showed, I was even more.

Not sure on the WCS call.

 

Poythress was bumped and they called him out of bounds. I thought it looked to be a pretty bad call, especially with how they'd been calling fouls the rest of the game.

 

WCS call was mehhhh whatever, if it was a bad call I didn't notice it much.

 

The foul on Poythress where he was called out of bounds was in fact a foul. A loose ball, both players going for the ball, Poythress got possession of the ball by getting to it first but was then pushed out of bounds by the other player that wasn't under control and initiated the contact that one seemed pretty simple to me.

I like the fact that people looked like they were actually out there battling. Obviously a bad start to the game, but after the first ten minutes it seemed like people for fighting. Randle was fighting for every rebound even though he was frustrated offensively which was a great sign. I think they are starting to turn the corner and will get better every game.

I missed the game. Were the missed shots in the first 10 minutes poorly chosen, or just misses of open shots? The latter doesn't concern me nearly as much as the former.